Broken Words
by Novafiction
Summary: Naruto's life is hard, but he isn't broken. Its been a month since the tragic mission to Wave, and things are looking up as he finally recognizes a childhood friend. But he soon hears a few words that'll bring him to the edge. AU, OOC, New Writer.
1. Prologue: Surprise and Sorrow

Hello (probably bored) readers!.. I'm new to the whole fanfiction writing. Also I'm a very poor writer. So I've started writing this as a way to improve. Hopefully I improve as I go on... Anyways... This will be a **cross over** Fic. I don't know with what, but hopefully you enjoy the journey anyway.

**Summary:** After coming back from wave, a life changing mission. Naruto finds out he has been lied to all his life by the people he called friends. Except for one. What will he do?

**Disclaimer:** I don't not own Naruto. Nor do I make any form of currency with this fanfiction. How would writing of this quality make a single cent...

"Speach"

'Thoughts'

xXx---------------------------------------------------------------xXx

x~~ Prologue: Surprise and Sorrow ~~x

xXx---------------Dawn: The Start of a Very Long Day---------------xXx

It was about 5 o'clock in the morning, and the village of Konoha was still sleeping. Judging by the sky, the sun wouldn't come over the horizon and bring in any light for another hour.

Like any major village, there were a number vigilant ninja patrolling the walls, the roofs, and the streets. The night patrol, as they were called, was system of routes that netted over the entire village. If a situation arose, a series of alarms and warnings would be set off. Like a hive, this quiet village would almost instantly be buzzing with movement. Within seconds, thousands of inhabitants would gear up and race out of their sleeping quarters to fight and die to protect their precious village.

Because of this of this iron clad system, which heavily depened so much on the loyalty of its inhabitants, one would assume that everyone loved it here. Since so many were willing give up their lives for it.

But sadly, that was not that case for one particular inhabitant.

You see, this citizen help held no love for the village. Not a single care actualy. He just simply.. hated it... all of it... The homes, the buildings, the streets, the walls... He even hated the people, the individuals that lived in in his proclaimed 'hellhole'. Whitout a single doubt, anything and everything about the village, he completely detested...

It was this hatred, that would give him... and many others... at chance of a better existence.

xXx---Dusk: The Closing of a Very Long Day---xXx

Within a dimmed office, two figures can be seen through a massive window; arguing heatedly. Or at least, the one standing was the aggressive heat, while the other sat calmly behind a wooden desk. He was heavily pacing back and forth in the little office, making fists and breathing hard. The other person was leaning back into the dark leather chair, with his hands lightly rested on the heavy oak. An angry roar rippled through the solidness of the room's once soundproof walls. A vase fell from one of the shelves and shattered into dozens of fragments.

"Every single one of you are Bastards!" Shouted the standing figure, his angry voice revealing him to be very young individual. Young enough to be barely past his fourteenth cycle.

"Those are unkind words… What would they think? They' re your friends." The second figure asked , his voice belonging to someone much older than the first, filled with ancient strength and prowess.

"Friends!? What fucking friends!?" The youth trembled a little as his voice lowered to a hollowed whisper. "I know everything old man… Every little fricken detail." His stare bore into the other's. "This charade… this act… there is no need to continue."

His elder's face slowly fell into a frowm, he finally looked down at the list he'd been given. He read down the list of names, a near hundred of them.. all the way to the very last His own. This was just a copy, but his signature was signed at the bottom of every copy given to each of the ones listed. He ran a finger across his name and felt his chakra in the ink. A legit replica of the Master. "…The one you got this from… Is he or she still alive?"

"Yes…" The boy croaked out. "I can't do that… I can't kill him…" But his mind shouted in agony, 'But that doesn't mean he's not going to die! Oh god… he could be dead right now… Why... the… fu-'

The old man sighed in relief. He had to cautious with his next words, this was an extremely bad situation he was in. The boy was in a fragile state. "I'm sorry you found out… It's obvious you were supposed to never know about this. But… It had to be done. For-"

"_Had to be done_?!" Creaking could be heard as the boy's aura swirled in silent rage, the wooden walls pushing against the growing phenomenon.

The other just watched unaffected as the boy put on an impressive show of power, as his own controlled aura protected him, filming over his body like a second skin. He unconsciously thought about how much more untamable the boy's aura would become in the future. This would threaten the boy's health… but that would have to wait for another time. God damnit... what the hell is Kakashi doing?

"Please calm down. I would like to be able to use this office after our meeting." He coughed lightly, "As, for the information you've uncovered… I know it seems bad at first, and I see how you're angry you are. But, all this was done with good intentions. For your benefit."

The youth stared at the man, absolute shock and revulsion mirrored his face, "I… I can not believe you can just sit there with that face and let that bullshit spill out of your mouth…" His tone now slow and filled with dissapointment. "I… I've lost what little respect I had for you Old man…"

The man stood up, alarmed that his words may have broken the boy. "Wait! I _am _really sorry you found out like this. But Na-"

"No!" The boy cut in. "No buts old man." He turned to the sole window in the room, which overlooked the entire village. "I'm tired of this bull shit. I'm tired of everything not right with my life. The stares, the insults, the mobs and the _LIES!."_ He tilted his head and said in a soft whisper. "The lies... the whole time... a lie."

"Please hear me out Na...." The old man tried reaching out for the boy. He could not afford to lose him like this, not when the time was so close. All work up to this point would have gone to waste.

"No!" The youth retracted from the extended hand. "I can hear your thoughts old man. Its in your eyes… I don't know why you did this, or what you had planned for me. But… I do know something's going to happen. And I can not follo-…" He had warily stepped back and was about to reach for his headband in his pocket before he suddenly froze. The old man didn't notice it because his eyes were glued to the youth's hand but the boy's eyes had glossed over for a second. "…I can not… trust you anymore… There's only one person left I can trust in this forsaken village. You're not it."

"What?!" The man asked through gritted teeth. "I'm been with you since you were a baby! I had you sheltered, clothed, and fed!" He tried to control himself, but his voice got louder after every word. "How can you not trust me!?"

The boy growled, "Those are the essential _human _rights and innocent kid deserved, bastard.

"_DESERVED!?" _The man slammed a fist into the table, obliterating it into a thousand little pieces. "I did that to keep you _ALIVE_! Where is your respect you ungrateful brat?! Did you forget who you were speaking too?!"

The boy still stood defiantly. Not backing down at the show of the others strength, even when pieces of debris came flying past him. They grazed by, leaving little cuts and nicks over exposed skin. He probably knew this conversation had to end now or would turn into something ugly. So he inhaled deeply and said in an even tone. "I know who I'm talking too. A liar." His hand rose and formed a simple seal. "And with all due _Respect_, Old man. I do _beg_ your leave."

"Wait!" But before the man could stop him, there was a brief pulse of concentrated chakra, and the boy's body disappeared in a silent flicker.

xXx

The old man scowled. "_Shunshin_… a perfect one." This wasn't exactly how he'd thought the boy to escape. He'd already know him to try something. A smoke bomb, clones, or trying that Sexy Jutsu, even if the seriousness of the situation would have abhorred it. But, he didn't expect something of that level.

Where most users of the skill left a swirl of leaves, the boy left none… not a single. Only Jonin should be able to perform it that way; no matter how large his chakra reserves where. But before the man could ponder over how he learned such a high level variation of the technique, two heavily geared nins appeared at his side.

They kneeled and spoke through their white masks, "Hokage-Sama! Shall we retrieve the Demon, sir? Raptor is already tracking the boy." "What do you wish to do?" Sharp and to the point; in business and in the tip of their concealed blades. The two belonged to ANBU. The elite Ninja of Konohagakure, and the Hokage's personal guard. The Old Man didn't budge or even acknowledge their sudden appearance. They were always with him, or in close proximity when ordered out for privacy.

He answered with a curt 'No.' "But Hokage-Sa-"

"I said No. Tell Raptor to pull out. We can not afford to use force at this moment." The old man slumped back into his chair as one of his operatives disappeared. Reaching into a small cabinet, he pulled out a long wooden pipe and lit it with a chakra flame. He deliberated over in his head what best solution to deal with this situation. The brat was unstable. He'd just found out the entire vi-

His eyes sharpened. "_Only one person…"_ According to him, there was only one other person he could turn to.

He grapped the list and slowly scanned the names of Naruto's ex-relations. Who on this list was closest to the boy, second to me… Many of them shouldn't have made contact with the boys as of yet. Only a small handful had started a 'relationship' since he was a kid. But a lot of things could have happened over the years; accidental contact, breaking a friendship, or even a developed grudge. Damnit, I should have kept better track of him.

"Hatake, Haruno, and the Uchiha and the rest of the rookies are the only Nins's the boy should've had prolonged contact with. But they were ordered to not start anything until the chunin exams. So they're out. Civilians to this point include his baby sitter and the ramen stand owner. But they wouldn't have much an impact on him… Who am I missing? Did he actually manage to befriend a villager that didn't hate him?" The hokage inhaled a long puff from his pipe.

"No… He would've blabbed about a new friend to his teammates, always trying to one up the uchiha. I've read their reports, he's a loner as usual. And they've also recently comeback from an extended mission. Kakashi had recorded everything significant the boy said for an entire month. No new faces.

This was frustrating. The boy shouldn't have found out. Let alone having seen the entire list. He puffed again. '…What a mess. What was it that… Iruka once said? _"The Brat has a talent for making things harder than it should."_ Hopefully your ability to judge the boy makes you my man.'

The hokage quickly took out a piece of chakra paper and placed his seal on it. Handing it to his guard, he ordered, "Cheetah, find Cunin Iruka Umino and escort him to my office. Use caution, force if nescesary. I still don't know how the boy obtained a copy of the List." The ANBU gave a small salute and also disappeared. Almost instantly, he sensed another chakra source replace the one that left.

'The guards are getting a little too lax.' He thought absent mindedly as he turned to stare out the window. Only a few slivers of the sun's rays could be seen over the horizon, as it continues its journey to bring light to other lands. Soon, it would be night, and roof tops below would light up as the nightly patrols lit the chakra lamps that hung from the tops of every home.

"Its supposed to be a calm Night… But why does it feel like a storm is brewing.

xXx----Evening: Three Hours Later----xXx

As the Night began to take over the boy crouching down on a roof top slowly became a mere shadow. 'Finally, time to get out of here before the patrols light up the village.' The shadow hopped from one roof to another, still careful to duck into larger shadows as there were still people walking about below him. He stuck to as many walls as possible and avoided windows and large gaps between buildings.

There was no questioning whether the Hokage had sent word to keep an eye on him or not. The old man thought him to be unstable, and only someone foolish would let loose someone If he was seen now, he'd be trailed and probably hauled back to the Hokage… 'All hope of leaving after that would evaporate…' He dodged under a ledge. 'If she really did it… this would be one and only chance of escaping.'

He heard clattering from above as a group of patrol Nins passed over him. Three heavy steps as they used the tiled ledges as stepping stones to lunge themselves to the next roof. 'What the... they increased patrols? I can still feel the clone I left at the apartment… There's no way they could have noticed anything this fast… Or… Maybe they're looking for her?'

The shadow leapt onto an empty street and began making his way to the northern gate. 'Kami… I have a bad feeling about this.' He was still in the southern district of the village, where the large slums and his apartment resided. It would take longer to get to the northern half but it was a lot safer than going the south Gate. It was smaller and had less people passing, which meant he'd be spotted immediately.

The North was the largest of the four gates and it opened into Konoha's market district, which should be closing up around now. It'd be a lot easier to blend into the massive crowd of merchants and civilians leaving the village. 'If I could make it there undetected.' he thought anxiously. But this wasn't the time to be worrying, there was someone counting on him to get out of this mess.

So he continued to push forward, and eventually the shadow came upon the barrier that separated the civilian residential district from the clan district. It wasn't as large or as guarded as the village's surround wall, but was still in his way. 'It a wonder why the clans, which number only in the hundreds, have the same amount of land that thousands of villagers take up.' With the use of chakra, the shadow was able carefully scale up the hard stone without the use of footholds.

Atop the fortification, he was able to peer past the buildings to the market district. Its roof tops were already lit up with hundreds of lamps to guide people out of the area. On the main street leading to the gate, there was already a massive buildup of human traffic. Farmers, merchants, caravans, and other miscellaneous identities, waiting their turn to enter or leave the village.

It was bizarre how normal the village seemed, looking at a sight like this. At this height his eyes could pick out surreal scenes you wouldn't expect out of a Ninja infested town. House wives picking out the best greens, kids playfully chasing each other with sticks, men heading into bars after a full day's work, and typical activites the villagers did at night.

Strange how he's noticing these things now. During this time of urgency, he's taking a second to envy the very civilians that'd curse him in a heartbeat. 'They have no idea how good they have it.' A majority of Konoha's ninja populace thought themselves better off than the regular people. Because they always thought they were stronger and had a higher rank than the norm.

Ironicly the shadow thought, that was the reason why he envied civilians so. They didn't need to train daily, they didn't need to worry about rank, nor did they need to fight and die on order. They never once have to see a body that they themselves killed. They have chance to live a normal, peaceful life and die at an old age.

'Hopefully, I'll have that chance for peace outside these walls.'

x----x

The shadow dropped down onto the closest roof top. He crouched and looked around for any patrols. Not a soul in sight. Nor were there any lit lamps. The shadow breathed out a sigh of relief. The clan district was unfamiliar to him, and for all he knew he could have dropped right onto the Hyuuga mansion. Shiver. Doing that would be like jumping into a pool of sharks… But instead of noses, it'd be their scary looking eyes that'd pick me off instantly.

All the Hyuuga's I've met to this point were all so arrogant that it almost made him sick to the stomack. And when he saw the real Hinata… he really did get sick. 'A bunch of disgusting narcissists… if I ever get like that, I think I'd stab myself.' He shuddered thinking back to how Hinata acted…

'Not the right time…' but the dry-heave still happened.

He swung down onto the ground and started stalking the shadows toward market area. For some reason the houses in area were only one story and built separated and far apart from each other. It also seemed like the place was also walled off from the surrounding clan mansions. There were a few wells, a dojo, and even a temple. It was like being in a small village, within the village.

But after a few houses, he noticed something odd when glanced through the shuttered windows. Almost all the rooms were empty, no furniture or any other sign of occupancy. Even outside, the clean look of the buildings and the surroundings made it seem deserted. There were no baskets or barrels that kept food, no buckets or other working tools, no scattered pieces of wood or stone that covered the streets. It was all barren.

'That place didn't seem right…' The shadow thought as he flipped over a wide wooden cut out that served as the area's only entrance.

He pushed out his senses to feel for any traces of chakra, which he found was a stupid idea when he thought back to it at a later time. Finding chakra sources this way literally meant pushing out his own chakra in wave, like sonar radar, until it bounced back after hitting another chakra source. Not that he knew what a radar was or the physics of sonar at the time.

There. He felt someone! One source. But the ping was all the way at the back near house he'd dropped on. There wasn't any time to quench his damned curiosity. He had to keep moving. He was lucky the person hadn't been alerted. And the thought made him concentrate more on keeping his nosy ass concealed.

He willed himself to move again, but he soon found out that the rest of the district wasn't as deserted.

'Gah!' The street up a head was lit up, and the mansions lined up next to it had people actually living in them. Human silhouettes could be seen walking past windows, dancing shadows on curtains or paper thin walls. Thing didn't look to hot as the shadow also sighted guards in front of a few of the homes. Really, he should've expected this.

Not only did the village's strongest and most ninja's live here, but also it's strongest families. 'More like bloodlines.' The shadow moved extremely slowly this time, using the bushes and trees on the other side of the road as cover. Constantly crouching and inching away at an ant's pace bore on his legs, but he kept at it till he heard movement. Peaking from a bush and spotted someone being escorted into home.

He held back a growl.

'Apparently, this place also housed the goddamned counsel.' But, ironicly, with these people he'd been aware and been involved in hostilities with. They were straight with him, not hiding their aggressions. And so was he. 'At least these people were _honest_.' He watched the group disappear, leaving a guard at the massive double doors. He started talking to the other guards, shouting greetings to them. Their hard faces unexpectedly broke into and they also shot back greetings between houses.

'Thank you, idiots.' They were definitely not the brightest of Nins. That or they were a couple or really bored Chunins, same one that rotated shift watches on the outer walls. He'd been holding back on the _shunshin _because of the risk of higher ranking Ninja sensing him. But judging the guards relax state, they were stationed in the district for superficial purposes only, to make the powerful look more powerful.

I'm willing to bet I would've been stuck into a useless job like this if I had ever gotten promoted. Looking toward the last wall between him and the market district, he concentrated his chakra and pictured the top the notched wall. He did the seal for _shunshin, _and for a split second he felt the tug-and-pull as his body broke through the sound barrier and rushed to the intended spot.

On top the fortification, the shadow flickered into a hard stop. He stumbled awkwardly, still not use to the instantaneous speed, and the distance he'd just traveled. Eliminating the sound and 'effects' that the usual shunshin had was taxing and very risky. It required an extreamly high _and _accurate amount of chakra to cut sound once to start then another dose to stop. The second cut was needed to lose and sound waves that were sucked in.

It was still a little tricky to for him to pull enough chakra fast enough for the second dose, to make a perfect stop. But for now, the shadow hoped it was enough to get out.

The shadow was just about to leap down onto the market stall when he look back at the clan housings to make sure all things were clear. No Tails. He then shifted his sights to a space that was near the entrance into the clan district. He wasn't surprised to see an empty lot where an elaborate, or what he thought was a bit eccentric, looking home once stood.

Those two… He lifted his sights to the impressive looking Gates, that had grown three fold. 'I'm sure I'll see them again. I'll make sure to thank Butterfly-Hime then.'

x-----x

Again, the shadow dropped jumped off one of the towering walls, the rush making his dark clothes and light hair flail softly before he landed with a small thud. But unlike before, he was distracted by the sight of the Gates that he hadn't looked before jumping. When he landed with a light thump, his peripheral vision caught movement.

A startled voice, "Huh who's there? Lee, Is that- Wait! You're-"

The shadow didn't think, but acted on instinct. His ears pin pointed which direction the voice had come from and how close it was. Right next to him. He quickly ducked, flicked out a Kunai and spun, bringing the blade in high arc, aiming two inches below the source of the voice.

The person didn't have time to react.

The shadow slowly stood up, judging by the dark crimson dripping onto the floor, his blade had connected. He turned. Though his eyes looked even, his mind was thrown into turmoil as he finally saw his fear stricken victim. It was a girl, a Kunoichi. And judging by her looks, she was also a Genin, barely older than himself.

The poor girl looked frightened; her eyes wide in shock as she dropped a kunai and brought her hands to her throat. A clean line from one jugular to the other was leaking blood down her pink blouse. "Wha…uh urbr ugh ugh!" She gurgled as the blood meant for her veins pooled in mouth. Her eyes looked away from him to stare at her shaking hands, fingers warm and soaked.

After a few more horrific seconds, she came down onto her knees and collapsed.

The whole time, the shadow was thinking about the girls family and how would they react, how her life was to this point, what her friends would think. But, then at the thought of friends, he started to wonder whether she would've been one of _his_ listed 'friends'. She was a Genin, so he knew their paths would've crossed, intentionally or unintentionally. Also, being an older Nin, she knew about his secret.

Would knowing about him change her attitude like so many other good people before her? But no matter how much he hated it, the answer would probably have been Yes. So the shadow let go of his regrets and kneeled down to the twitching body. He tried to reassure himself by thinking that if he hadn't done what his instincts willed, and just incapacitated her, she would've recovered much faster than his clone would've lasted.

She was threat to his escape. But she was still a human. He brought his fingers to the pair of eyes that stared up at him. "I'm sorry. This is my fault. If I had looked down our paths wouldn't have crossed this night. And you wouldn't have died." He gently closed her lids as her chest heaved, her body trying one last time to obtain the much need oxygn. "Be calm. Die proud. You may not have been my first kill, but you would be my most painful."

He got up just as the Kunoich's body finally relaxed onto the cold roof tiles. The shadow glanced around for her squad, or the person she'd first thought him to be. All was clear. So, without glancing back this time, he shunshined off to the second major event he would have this night that would further change his life.

As for the girl… The shadow would go on to perform harder and more painful kills. But what he didn't realize at that moment was that he'd lied to her. She'd have the honors of being his true first kill. And the most significant he would ever have. Because her death marks the turning point in his life. What was supposed to happen, no longer exists.

xXx

The shadow flickered to the middle of one of the market districts many streets. There were normal people all around him, but they were all too busy going about their own business, shopping or selling, to notice. Because soon, most of the shops would close for the night, and they would have to wait till morning to do their groceries.

A person bumped into him, making him tense and grab for a kunai. But he relaxed as he found that it was a merchant rushing down the street. He watched as the man with a towering stack of he-didn't-care head toward a large gathering three blocks down. Infront of the mass was the South Gate.

But the young Nin didn't continue straight down, but instead, turned into an opening of a dark alley. As he walked in he looked up. The two buildings that squeezed this space were tall, so the only a few patches of light that shined through the narrow path. There was no one here but he still suppressed his aura to a minimum. The patrols that roved the roofs above were three times the amount that guarded the other districts. Acting more like military police for the citizens, than guarding against intruders.

Just as he reached brick wall at the end, he felt a presence at the ally's mouth. Quickly moving into back into the shadows, he blended into the walls. 'Its just about that time now.' He continued to hide as the figure came closer.

Thought it was dark, he could still make out the silhouette of the figure nearing him. The person was tall, with long hair and curves that only belong on a woman. And as the person came closer, he noticed a sack in the person's hands.

"N-na-naru-ruto?" Definitely a females voice. She called out again, "A-are you there?"

The shadow knew it had to be the girl he'd been hoping would show up, he felt not sign of killing intent or a negative aura coming from the new comer. But he still held back, not willing to relax yet. Until, the person stepped forward into one of the lit patches. The moon's light revealed her to be the woman he'd been expecting.

The shadow relaxed a little; he felt no sign of killing intent or a negative aura coming from the newcomer. He called out from his cover, "So... You actually came..."

The girl's head jerked to the direction his voice came from, "Of course I came! What else would I do?" she shouted. Her voice was strained, filled with agony.

Trying his hardest to ignore the pain in her voice, the shadow continued push. He'd already lost his chance to turn back, and he wanted to make damned sure she didn't just throw away hers. "You could have gone to the old man… You don't need to do this-"

"What!? The h-hokage?! N-not after what he did… n-not after what THEY did." She said hastily, her voice starting to crack.

The heart in shadows ached to ease her. He hoped to Kami that this whole situation hadn't broken her... or leave her in this distraught state. It nearly drove himself insane… but he had his entire life built up to this fall out.

The shadow stared at the woman for a few seconds before responding. "Come closer…"

The person moved forward into the moonlight and revealed herself to be a young, beautiful woman in her teens. She was wearing a cream colored kimono that went down to her thighs, with matching pants and sandals. But, what seemed wrong was that her head was bowed down. Her long silky brown hair shadowed her face.

"Ayame…"

She looked up again toward the voice. 'Kami please let her be ok…' The girl was crying. Her eyes were puffy hinting that she'd been at this for quite some time. What can-

"I have a present for you." Ayame lifted the object in her hand and the shadow gasped. His heart nearly stopped.

"A real present! This is the proof... My Proof! Proof that I will always be your _friend_!" She had started to become fratic. Tears and other liquids poured from her face now. Gone was the nice girl that had cheered him from behind the counter, replaced by someone on the brink of hysteria.

"I'm not like them! I'll never do what they did!" Ayame dropped the object and lunged into the shadows. Her arms spread open, trying desperately to reach out for him.

"Please! Where are you..." her body slammed into something, something soft… and warm. She looked up to see a pair of deep blue eyes looking down fondly at her. "N-nn-n-na-ru-ru.." The pair of eyes shifted to crescents; she could clearly see his clouded happiness.

"Naaaruuutooooo!!" She practically shoved herself into him, fiercely wrapping her arms around him and burying her face into his chest. Her sobs, which had paused, came back to full force…

"Naruto! Narutooo! I'm not like them! I'm not like that _bastard_!" Ayame's fluids started to drench Naruto's clothes, but he did nothing to push her away. He simply wrapped his own arms around her.

"Shh, its ok. It's ok, I.." He glance at the round object on the ground, and looked back at her. Breathing deeply, " Thank You… Its ok.. I believe you.." If he said anything else now, he'd risk losing her mind.

She replied by crying even louder, which Naruto had thought to be almost unbearable. "This girl has done so much… What should I do?..."

"Naru, Naruto, Narutoo, hic, Naru..hic..too" She continued to repeat his name over and over.

"I'm sorry Ayame. I'm sorry you had to go through this." He put a finger under her chin and tilted her head up. He then bent his own head down till both their foreheads were touching.

She gasped as she looked into his eyes. 'So warm and full of… warmth.' She closed her own eyes, trying to stop the urge to cry even more.

"Ayame, you have to calm down." Naruto said. He caressed her back in attempt to calm her.

"Naruto, what I did…" She choked out.

He looked over at the object again. "Ayame... I'm sorry,.. I really..."

"No. Stop. What I did..." She inhaled deeply and also looked at the object. "…was the right thing to do."

'**Kit… You must leave now… Soon they-'**

'I don't _CARE!_

'**But…'**

He ignored the voice, as he and she both looked at the object which had rolled into the moonlight. Laying on the cold moist dirt, Ichiraku's head reflected an expression that couldn't be named. But, could only explained as a mixture between these two words: Surprise... and Sorrow.

xXx---------------------------------------------xXx

xXx~~Prologue: End~~xXx

xXx-----------------------------------------------------xXx

A/N: Yea. This was my very first fic. But I came back many times to revamp the quality. Though, it doesn't compare to many of the awesome writers on this site, it is much better than the very first version that I posted a year ago. So so long ago.

-Tell me what you think, or how I should improve.


	2. Chapter 1: Purity

Hi guys. The next few chaps will be a flash back to explain the events that led to the prologue. This chap is mostly corny interactions between the two main characters. Gotta make their relationship grow... Yeah.. its a dialogue intensive fic... only thing I'm good.... errrr decent at.... Well if this sucks, pfft I don't care, I love writing.

*Note: If you've read this fic last year you'll notice (if ye remember) a slight difference. I'm trying my absolute best to make this fic at least half decent...

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

"**Anything of significance" **

**'Any thought of significance'**

**Such as, Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or anything else that resembles anything copyrighted. Hell, a lot of this is inspiration from other stuff. **== Was significant, so its bold.

---------------------xXx----------------------

~~~~~~~Chapter 1: Purity~~~~~~~

------------------------------------xXx-------------------------------------

---Flashback: 2 Weeks before Prologue---

~~~Ichiraku's Ramen Stand~~~

Ayame was working behind the counter of her father's ramen stand; doing a lot of the usual prep work such as boiling the broth or dicing up a dozen or so ingredients. The sun was at its highest, meaning it was noon and lunch was about to start. Soon, dozens of customers would flood the little stall to grab a bowl of Konoha's finest ramen. There would be customers that'd eat fast, others that'd eat slowly, and that would just chat with there friends and wouldn't eat here at all.

Though, she didn't mind any of them, because there was only customer that she only cared and anticipated for. But sadly, he hasn't stopped by to eat for a very... very long time.

-

'I wonder if he'll be stopping by today' the ramen girl ,though looking old enough to be called a woman, tho0  
ught, 'He's been training a lot recently since his team came back from wave country...' She leaned on the counter and sighed, "I wonder what It was like... If only I got a chance to go there."

"Ayame!" A voice came from the back of the shop, startling her into standing straight up. But she realized it was only her father. 'Hes probably taking inventory' she thought. Everyday, old man Ichiraku had to make sure they had enough food to cater to the average two-hundred customers that they received daily.

"Yes father?" The teen asked.

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"Once you finish making the noodles, you can come get your pay and end your shift." Ichiraku shouted, then turned back to his wares. The raman chef, grunted as he lifted a massive box off the ground and haphazardly placed onto a tower of even more hazardously placed boxes. It tilted about for a few seconds before it settled down.

The ramen chef starred at the tower before shrugging to himself. "Meh, ill get Ayame to fix it later. She's stronger than me now anyways." He mumbled.

The old man was beginning to taste the signs of old age...

---------------------------------

"Oh.. Ok father" She called back, her voice perked with excitement at the aspect of finally getting paid. She looked at the ingredients in front of her and tightened her apron. "I guess we need some more noodles."

Ayame began to combine a few ingredients on a floured counter in front of her. Her body going through the movements her father taught her over the years. She'd gone through these steps thousands of times before, enough that they no longer required constant thought.

As such, her mind wanders. 'Ramen.. He loves this stuff doesn't he.'

Ayame used her hands to mix and clump the ingredients into a blob of sticky dough. Sweat condensed near her brows; dough was always heavy, no matter what stage it was in.

'Though its been a month since he came back, I've only seen him once.'

She took the dough into her palms and started to stretch it. Flakes of flour and hard dough fell to the counter, leaving behind the soft-smooth dough needed to make perfect ramen.

'But that one time, he came by to grab a quick bite then left to continue training'

Her hands twisted the dough, making it stretch more and elongate.

'We barely said a few words to each other… I miss him so much…'

She then folded the dough, making it into two thick ropes; it looked like a giant churro.

'I hope he didn't find a different restaurant ...' The thought of him being served food by another woman brought a tick to her forehead.

Focusing on the dough, she refolds and stretches them numerous times, creating dozens of smaller strands. Then she took a knife and cut the ends, freeing the strands from each other, turning them into noodles.

Lifting one of the strands for inspection, she smiled to herself, '...heh, he likes his noodles a bit thicker than normal ones….'

She thought back to a few years ago and pictured a young a Naruto sitting next her. He was happily slurping up the remains of a bowl of miso ramen she had cooked for him. It was her first time actually making ramen for a costumer and she had accidentally made the ramen too thick. But, before she could've dispose of them and start a new batch Naruto stopped her. 'Wait Nee-chan! Don't just throw it away, let me try it. Since Nee-chan made it, it can only be good!' And when he inhaled the first bite, he turned to her with a massive grin, 'Amazing! Its soo much better than your dads! I reeeaaalllyy like the bigger noodles!'

Ever since that day, when ever the shop wasn't busy, she would personally make the special sized ramen just for him. She didn't care if her father didn't approve or that it took a little more effort; it made her happy to make him happy...

"Ayame, you ok? You've been staring at those noodles for a while." Her father said from behind her. He was dressed in a his usual chefs garb, with his hands leaning on the counter next to her. He had a concerned look on his face which made her look away.

"Oh! Ah.. Father sorry. I was just thinking of a few things." she replied, lifting the board and dumping the noodles into an empty rack.

The old man looked at his daughter for a few seconds; an eye brow raised. "What were you thinking about?"

She squirmed under his questioning gaze, trying to assure herself that her father had no idea that she was thinking about a 'certain boy' "U-um nothing important."

Thankfully, her father only shrugged. "Ok.." He turned to help her prepare the ingredients on the counter. "But anyways, I've been wondering why you've been working here a lot recently. Any reason?"

'Hoping for a chance to see the certain boy...' was her first thought. "O-oh, I.. ah.. just wanted to save up some money." she said, struggling to hide the blush on her face.

Noticing the blush, the old man smirked to himself. He pulls out a wallet and takes a few bills out. "Well, here's your pay" handing the cash to his daughter.

Looking at the large sum in her hands, she gaped. "1,2,3.…..wait! Father isn't this a bit to much?!" He'd actually given her double than what she'd usually receive!

"Nah, Ayame, think of it as a bonus for all your hard work." He patter her shoulder. "You deserve all of it."

"But…" she was interrupted by someone entering the shop. A familiar chunin with distinguishable scar poked his head through the flaps of their shop. He spotted an empty seat and entered, giving a smile to the pair. "Good after noon Ichiraku-san, Ayame-san."

"Ah! Iruka-san! Welcome, how are you doing today?" The old man greeted.

The scarred chunin sat down and looked up at the menu. "Been a rough morning. It's my classes turn to use the sparring grounds today. The littles suckers gave me quite a work out. I'm starving." He wasn't exaggerating, bruises litter his naked arms and his gear looked roughed up. Though, only the elder Ichiraku noticed this.

The younger was a bit too distracted to notice. Not being able to help herself, Ayame leaned out from behind the counter and looker around. With a frown on her face she asked " So, Iruka-san, will Naruto be joining you today? I haven't seen him for a while."

She looked at Iruka and saw his face contort for less then a second, before reforming into a look of surprise, then finally stopping at a smile. "I don't think so. I myself, haven't seen the little mons…auhh... money burner for a while.."

Seeing her confused look, he continued, "haha, I can still feel the dents he put into my wallet." giving a wiry smile. He patted the his vest pouch, where he kept his wallet, for emphasis.

"Ah.." that didn't sound right, but she decided to push it a way till later and focused on her duties. "So, what will it be Iruka-san?"

"Hmmmm, I'll have a bowl of beef ramen please, and could the beef be grilled teriyaki?" The chunin ordered.

"Ok, coming right up." She was about to turn on the stove but she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Now, now Ayame, your shift ended. Why don't ya get out of here and relax?" her father smiled.

"Wha, but father.. Iruka-san's ra…" She tried to quickly think of a reason to stay. She new that if Naruto did decide to stop by today, it would be when Iruka was here. To bad, no idea short of embarressing came to mind.

"No buts! Get out of here. Have fun." Then his smile turned into a wicked grin. "Spend some time with your special friend?"

She sputtered, "What?! Father! What are you talking about?!" Ayame's mind was panicking. 'Does he know?!' She had done everything she could to hide her budding feelings. So much as to limit her conversations her 'special friend' when he used to frequent their shop.

Iruka whistled, "Special friend? I wonder whos the lucky guy?" his grin matching Ichiraku's..

"Gah! Father there isn't anyone like that!" Ayame said, embarrassment clearly on her face.

"We're just joking, now get out of here…" Her father paused, his grin still plastered to his face. "and tell your 'friend' to stop by one day. I'd like to meet my future son-in-law" The ramen chef jabbed; soon, he and Iruka burst into full blown laughter.

Ayame was mortified. But, strangely, she felt relieved at his words. "Father!" 'So he really doesn't know who it is!' She quickly pushed open the counter door and left before they could get another chance to make fun of her.

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~~~~~~Konoha Streets~~~~~~~

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'Argh! That was so... so lame! father!' she was steaming and she knew she needed to calm down before she did anything rash. 'Like dumping boiling broth on their head.' The screams would have been satisfying. But, seeing that if she returned to, they'd only make funny of her more. 'Jeeze..'

Ayame's father had always teased her like this ever since she started puberty. But recently, he had been doing it almost weekly, as if he was actually nagging her. Which is highly probable, considering she has never had a boyfriend yet... Or gone out on a date... Or even flirted.... (Actually, she has flirted with Naruto quite a few times. But, she's way to naive to have realized it.)

Her hands balled into fists. 'I'm fifteen! I still have plenty of time... Plus I still want to wait for him too! I've been waiting too long... and i'll continue to wait!' Thats all knew how to do when it came to him; and thats all she'll ever do. No one else, but him.

She walked out of the alley which the ramen shop was located, and entered the main market streets. It was filled with hundreds of people, ranging from merchants to street beggars; wives picking out ingredients for dinner to children running around with their friends. Ayame looked at the people around her, taking note of the potential males in her age range. Aaannnnd.. nothing, no reaction. Not a single one made her feel as she did when she looked at Naruto. 'Kami, even a slight3 glance makes me blush like an idiot sometimes.'

"Grrr..." Ayame shook her head of those thoughts. 'No use getting too worked up about it.'

-------------

She continued to walk, not knowing where to go. She felt too riled up to simply go home, and being inside on a beautiful day like this simply didn't appease her current mood. 'I need to do some thing. Anything!' She sighed.

Bored, she looked at the people she passed. There were wives out shopping, kids playing on the streets, old men talking and laughing. These kind of people were common for a normal peaceful village. Yet... once in a while, she would pass a random ninja who actually preferred walking instead of roof hoping. 'You'd think, after living inside a ninja village all your life, one would be used to seeing someone armed to the teeth with weapons...' Ayame sighed again.

"Its so strange being out of that dingy little shop." She muttered. The ramen shop was her entire world. Within it, she knew everything (about ramen of course); she had a purpose. Though unspoken, she was expected to learn and master her father's trade, and one day take over the shop. So she had a future. But out of that little world, she was a like a lost child, sucking on her thumb. She had no reason to stray from her daily life. No school (home schooled), no other family, and no friends.

Ayame only knew the village through the costumer's eyes. While people ate, they chatted freely with others who sat next to them. They'd talk about the current news or events; filling her in with the latest gossips and happening within or sometimes outside the village. (Which is how she learned the where abouts and doings of her favorite costumer.)

Then one day, she had been listening in on a pair of customers that had perked her interests. They were talking about a set of hills that laid beside the Hokage mountains. They described the grassy hills to be one of the best relaxation spots in the entire village, and that the view was simply amazing.

Since that day, Ayame had decided to visit that area if she ever had any free time. So, with being kicked from the shop, she headed toward the Hokage monument.

---------------------------^/\^----------------------------

~~~~~~~~Northern Konaha Hills~~~~~~~~

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Traversing the busy streets during noon took about half an hour. The hills were located in the northern part of the village, nearly three-forths the village's width away from her shop. Probably one of the farthest places she's ever visited.

Ayame stood at the base of the largest hill, which over looked a wide recreational park. She looked around and whistled. 'The custormers were right, this place is awesome.'

The park itself was beautiful; wide, spacious, and well kept. Her eyes followed the paved paths that wined around the trees that provided a good amount of shade. Dozens of benches and tables were scattered though out the park for friends to hangout at. There was even a good sized pond.

But she decided to explore all that on another day, and looked up at the hill. 'Its kinda steep, but I'm pretty sure ill be able to see the whole village from the top!' Slowly, she started making her way up.

As Ayame neared the top, she soaked in everything around her. She found that the breeze and was more noticeable the higher she got; and that the air literally smelled cleaner, and a lot fresher. After a while, the sound of the busy village was drowned out the sounds or pure nature. The sound of the birds, the wind, and even the grass. All this made her ascent a much more pleseant experience than a tiresome one.

'Such a wonderful feeling. If only he was here to share it with…'

Whether Kami heard her or not, she spotted a tuff of yellow hair further up the hill. 'Naruto!'

If trip up the hill had tired her, the sight of the one person she'd been think of all day nearly washed away all signs of exhaustion. She ran up and found the blond lying on the grass. He was on back, arms and legs spread out.

'His eyes are closed, he must be sleeping…' she thought.

Ayame carefully walked and silently sat beside him.

Seeing that her actions hadn't awaken him from his slumber, she looked down to admire his ever so cute features. The first thing her eyes had set on was his hair. 'So fluffy…' She resisted the urge to run her hand through it. Naruto probably had the most unique hair within the village she thought. It looked incredibly soft, yet it spiked out in every direction. Its color, a deep neon yellow, was one of a kind. If he was put in crowd filled with thousands people, he'd still be picked out within seconds. This kind of hair, she had only seen once on a man that had frequented the ramen shop when she was a kid.

A cool breeze flew through them, causing his hair to sway wildly and move the shadow that covered his face. Ayame's eyes shifted to another one of Naruto's features. His infamous whisker marks. But, they were a bit different from what she remembered. Actually, his entire face looked different. He had gotten rid of the fat that rounded his cheeks and chin. What was left over was sharper and more defined looking face.

'Hes gotten cuter.' She thought absently.

Shifting back to his whisker marks, she examined them closer. They looked a lot darker and wider, as if they were real…

Her face warmed. 'Oh my... A-are they re-real!?' she had always thought Naruto drew those marks on; as some weird ninja war paint. But now... the groves actually _looked_ deeper, casting a darker shadow. 'Theres no way these are scars. Scars don't notch!' It could have been birth marks, she figured; but there was only one way to find out...

'I want... no... _need_ to feel them...' With blushed cheeks, her reached toward her target's... um... Naruto's cheeks, with the intent of quenching her burning curiosity.

But, at fingernail's length away from making contact, Naruto's own hand shot up and seized her. She instinctively tried to pull her hand back, but his strong fingers gripped her risk like an iron chain; heavy and unrelenting.

"Kyaaa!!" She squeaked as his gripped tightened. It really felt like iron she thought.

Then in an almost cynical tone, which made Ayama shiver, he said, "Now, now, that's not a smart thing to do…" he opened his eyes and looked up to see the hand's owner only to freeze.

"O-o-n-neesan. W-what are you doing here?" Naruto gapped, his earlier pretense dropped, replace by clear confusion. He was pretty sure he had never seen her not behind the ramen counter before. But, as astonishing as it was to see her out side, it was even more so on this hill… next to him… 'What is she doing here?!'

"Ahh.. umm.. Naruto? Um.. my hand, your kinda hurting it." She stammered out. Her face had turned a heavy shade of red. But, not because of the pain from her wrist, but from the pure embarrassment of being caught. 'He must think I'm some weird, face grabbing perv...'

Naruto shook off his surprise and quickly let go of her wrist. "Ah. Nee-san. I'm really, really sorry." His eyes moved from side to side, as if he was looking for something. "It was... umm.. Aa-a f-forced reaction." He said quickly.

Even while in a state of embarrassment she couldn't help but pick up Naruto's words. 'Forced reaction?'

She tried to get up. "N-no its alright Narut-toooo… Uff!" But, while getting up, her hind leg accidentally caught the other; making her lost more her balance and accidentally fall forward… onto Naruto... Pah!

"Agh. Naruto, what happened.. ahh oouuuoooo." She moaned that last bit.

"Muff-ru-uff!" Dazed, she looked down to see where she'd landed.

"Ahyaf- geff-uff! Breff-cont-breeuff!" (Ayame get off. Breath, can't breath.) She moaned again, a strange feeling burned though her entire body.

"Ooooo.. Na-naruto, s-stop doing that. L-let me get off you." Ayame quickly rolled to side, trying to smash down the strange feeling that was spreading through her like wild fire. She brought a hand over her chest and found her heart was pounding; she clutched at her dress and looked at the blonde.

To her side, Naruto was gasping, trying to return the much needed air into his lungs. His mind still incoherent, 'Big, round, soft, marshmellow.. wait!' It hit him. 'O kami, what the hell did I just do!?' He dreadfully turned his face and met her eyes. She was looking right at him, her face clearly ragged. He panicked, 'she must think I'm some kind of pervert!'

"Kami! I'm really, really, realllyyyy sorry Oneesan. What it just did.. I swear I didn't mean to do anything perverted to your bre.."

Before he could utter anything else to make her embarrass, she cut him off. "Kyaa! Naruto! Wait! Its... O.K. Its my fault, I should be the one apologizing." She was on the verge of passing out.

"But… neesan.." He attempted again; he lifted his hand hesitantly as if he were going to reach out to her, but pulled back.

"It's OK Naruto." She took in a deep breath. "L-lets just forget that happened." Not knowing how else to respond to this situation, Naruto relented, and awkward silence befell them.

Both teens had laid back onto the grass, looking up at the sky. Thoughts of what had just occurred raced through Ayame's mind. This was the first she had so much bodily contact with another person. 'What is this?' The sensations that she was currently feeling was all to foreign to her. 'When he… it felt so strange…' But, she decided to cut this line of thought, knowing it'd lead to that feeling again, and turned her head toward Naruto.

Ayame, saw his face reflected a mixture of confusion and worry. Naruto's brows had scrunched, narrowing his dimmed eyes. 'I wonder what he's thinking' she thought.

-------XxX-------

A couple of minutes passed and the awkwardness still hung over them. It was suffocating them, just like a poisonous cloud.

Not taking it anymore, Naruto turned his head to her and said, "Soo… Onee-san what are you doing here anyway?" trying to start a conversation.

Ayame blinked, 'Oneesan….' She repeated the word to herself, thinking how weird it sounded now. She gazed at his maturing features. "Umm.."

Seeing an unhappy look on her face, Naruto quickly added. "Ah sorry Nee-san! Its n-not that I don't want you here. I don't mind the company." He hoped that was enough to clear away his rudeness.

She turned to him, with a confused look on her face. "Huh? I was just wondering something, sorry."

Naruto let out a breath. "Oh… So what were you thinking?" He asked, relieved he hadn't hurt her feelings.

She fidgeted, "Well…. I wanted to ask you something. A… favor.." She knew her cheeks were reddening once again. She could feel her head becoming lighter.

"Well, sure go ahead Nee-san..." Naruto said, noticing her hesitance.

He brought his full attention to her, thinking it had be something serious, considering the way she was acting at the moment. A picture of an older-sister like Ayame came to him, violently admonishing him for his manners. Another picture came to mind of her with a wide cheeky grin plastered across her face, ruffling the hair his younger self. Yet, the girl lying next to him was acting so... just... he didn't know... unlike his usual Nee-san... ever since she woke him up.

'She should've hit me earlier...'

"Um… about that word. Onee-san sounds to formal, don't y-you think? C-can call me be my name for now on?" If she wasn't blushing before, she was blushing now. Blushing hard.

"Oo.. but doesn't Ichiraku-san sounds bit to weird to be calling a girl." He replied.

"N-no. I meant my first name... and without the san..."

"Ehhh! But, Onee-san! Your older than me by three years! I' supposed to call you that" He argued.

"But, we about look the same age as me now." She scrunched her brows. "Err, i've also been thinking about that... why _so _you look so much older than you did a month ago?" There, she asked him How couldn't she have not. How does some go from looking 13 to 16 in a month?

Naruto flinched. "Well um.. a… growth spurt." Genius.

'He's lying…' But she pushed that thought away.

"Surreee... But, back to my name." She took a deep breath, scrounged up some courage. W-we've known each other for several years now, right?" He nodded. "S-so, please, just call me Ayame."

She unconsciously made a pout and glossy eyes. Of course, this tactic was used to make a regular looking person look cute, making him/her a lot harder to say no to. Since Ayame was already cute to begin with, this effect was much more potent. Mathematically, Cuteness x Cuteness equals Cuteness2; which also means instant submission for any normal man.

Naruto twitched, not a normal man, but decided to give in.

"Fine… A-ayame." He said her name slowly, as if tasting something for the first time.

Hearing him say that sent another wave of unknown feelings through her. This time, however, it wasn't as intense as a raging fire; but soft, like a warm flame. Though, it was still enough to short-circuit her mind.

"…."

"Ayame? You O…"

-----------------------------------------xXx--------------------------------------------

**-She Glomped – She Hugged – She Squeezed – She Nuzzled-**

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Naruto's entire body froze over from her actions. His eyes widened, muscles tightened, and his heart beat raised.

"Yay! You said… it.." Ayame's celebration was cut, as she saw that he wasn't responding… or breathing! "Naruto! What wrong!?"

He inhaled sharply, and shook his head slightly.

Ayame moved back a bit. "Naruto?"

He closed his eyes for a few seconds, which started to worry her. His demeanor had changed. Gone was the calm, contented look on his face. In its place was a hard, serious expression. She saw that most, if not all his muscles had tensed; his breathing was heavy and lips curled into a slight frown.

But, before she could continue her observations, Naruto stopped her. The next few words they were about to exchange would start a process within her; this will slowly start to change her views and thoughts of the boy in front of her.

"A-ayame.... please try not ever making sudden contact with me." His voice was like a knife, cold and sharp. But, to Ayame, it was as if the knife was real. For each and every single word, she felt a painfully shallow stab at her heart. Was he was asking her to never come close to him? To never touch or embrace him? To someone she looked to as something more than a friend, self-conscious of it or not.

He opened his eyes and saw the pained look on her face and said. "It's nothing against you Nee-sa... Ayame.' He caught himself... calling her anything but by her name could hurt her more at this time. "I-it's just not a good idea to suddenly hold me."

"Oh.. sure Naruto, but.." She simply did not understand why he was asking this. Why couldn't she hold him. Why couldn't' she have the chance to comprehend the strange budding feeling within her. 'W-why is he saying these things...'

Naruto continued, knowing the question on her lips. He looked up, trying to think of something. "I-it's just due to my own experi… I mean ninja training, to naturally strike out.. At any incoming attacks I mean ."

"Oh." Ayame shivered slightly, thinking back 'Would he have killed me?'

As if answering her unspoken question, "Earlier, when I was lying on the ground. I had sensed you coming up to me. And, if you had radiated even the slightest of killing intent, it would've been your throat, not your wrist."

Her eyes widened at this new information, and unconsciously moved her hand to her neck. 'He would've.'

Naruto saw this and sighed. "I-it's ok Ayame. I'm only saying this as a warning." Somehow, it pained him to see her like this. He starting to think saying these things to her was a bad idea; but the past...

To anyone else: Iruka, the Hokage, his other friends, he would have thought nothing of it. He would of said those words as a warning and let it be. But, it was different with Ayame. Somehow, it felt wrong to say it to her. He just couldn't think of a reason why.

Durring his musings, Ayame too, was having an internal monologue. What he had just said made something click in Ayame's mind. She dropped her hand to the side and inhaled deeply. She needed to calm down and think. Everything he just said didn't sound right at all, and she knew this.

"B-but, i've hit you many times before..." she said, thinking of the numerous times she'd 'punished him'.

His frown lightened, "Those times... we where at your shop." He paused, trying to form the right words. "I feel safe there."

"O-ok. Naruto." She said, looking a lot calmer. But her mind was still racing for solution to his words. A ninja's life was hard... But not so difficult enough to be like this within his own village. Something was making him act and think this way. She, too, just couldn't think of an answer. 'Naruto, what happened…'

Seeing her visibly relax a bit and being oblivious to her thoughts, Naruto lifted her chin and smiled at her. "Also, remember, when you hugged me, I didn't do anything. I stopped me self because you are Ayame. And Ayame is my... friend." Then, a strange expressing crossed his face, as if he was struggling with something. But, it was soon replaced with resolution.

**'_The past be damned.'_**

Naruto sighed again, and said, "Look, I change my mind. Ayame, Since it is _you_. I'll allow _You_ to touch me. Like I said, _you're_ my friend."

...You could've heard her blood rush upwards. Ayame's earlier thoughts of his words and actions disappeared from her mind. She knew what he just said was purely innocent, with no hidden connotations of any sort. But, she couldn't help but blush severely. With her mind blank as a canvas, she began to think up new thoughts. Thoughts of her doing strange sensual things to Naruto.

'Gah! Stop' She mentally berated herself. 'I shouldn't be thinking of these things!'

Ayame had always been a good girl. While growing up, she always acted the she innocent girl that her father had raise her to be. How else would she have turned out to be; she lived and worked in a ramen shop with little to no friends.

But ever since hitting puberty, her mind began to change. Like all budding preteens, she started to question many things. And, with no female figure to look up to, she turned, not to her father, but… the pubic library. Sure, sex Ed books quelled her inquisitions for a while. But, educational books could only go so far. There were unexplained holes that still confused her. Holes that would later be filled within the smut books she would find in the romance section of that very library.

(A/n: Anyone catch that? You have no idea how hard i'm laughing atm. God, i love fanfiction.)

Then, Naruto said, "But you need to do it slowly at first. I'm still not used to touching other people."

That did it for Ayame, and she promptly passed out. She couldn't blame anyone. Not herself for having a curious mind. Nor Naruto, for not knowing purer words to convey his thoughts.

"This wasn't the reaction I was expecting...."

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---------5 minutes later---------

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Ayame was broken from her unconsciousness when she felt her head being lifted from the ground. 'unn.. Wha.. Whats happening?' Her mind still dizzy from her faint.

Then, she felt something touching her forehead. 'Wha?' She slowly tried to remember what happened, why had she been sleeping.

Images of ramen came to her. Then the shop and her father. 'Right, I was kicked out.. to have break..' Images of the Hokage monument appeared. Then of a her walking up a grassy hill. 'I came up here to relax..' Then an image of bright yellow hair. 'He's here..'

Lastly, she saw his face. His strikingly blue eyes. His sharp, handsome face with a warm fond smile. "Naruto.."

"Ayame.."

Wait… Whats this now... 'This is his real face.. Only inches away from mine..' she gingerly reached to up caress his whiskers. 'yup.. Its real.'

Naruto's body vibrated, "T-that t-tickles Ayam--m-me" he said, trying tying to surpress a moan.

'I found a weakness' she unconsciously thought.

After a second or so, her mind began to clear. She started to make sense of her current situation. She was lying on the ground. Naruto's face was hovering over hers. His hand was on her neck. Her hand was feeling his whiskers..

She panicked. "Kyaa!" she shot up in embarrassment. But, in doing so, her fore head knocked into Naruto's.

"Ayeee!" Ayame brought up her hands to try to rub away the steadily raising pain.

Infront of her, Naruto was doing to same. "Gah. Ayame. What did I just say five minutes ago!?" He shock his head. "How am I gona get used to someone holding me, if I always end up getting hurt." He got up and dusted himself off.

"Yeah, sorry bout that. You just surprised me is all." She apologized.

Naruto looked down and offered his hand. "Well, I'm still new to this, but I'm pretty sure friends forgive friends." He gave her a grin.

Ayame grinned back, "Yah, they do." She took his hand and got up on to her own feet. She dusted her self off and turned to him. "So what now?"

Naruto scratched his head, "I don't know…" He look looked her over once, examining what she was wearing. She had the clothes he'd always seen her in. A cream colored robe that went down to her feet. She also had on her head band that held back her long straight hair.

"Did just come from the shop?" He coughed, "I mean you have on your work clothes right? Or is that you normally wear that outfit?"

Ayame looked at her self and blushed, "I have other clothes you know!" She didn't want him to think she always wore this kind of clothing. It'd make her look too plain... or boring.

"Jeeze. I just came from the shop." she told him.

Ayame mentioning the shop, brought back a question to Naruto's mind.

"Oh, right! You still haven't answered my question. What are you doing up here anyway?" Naruto asked for, what.., the third time today. "and.. Once again, its not that I mind, it's surprising to see out of the shop... This _is _the first time I've seen you anywhere but there."

"My father kicked me out." She answered. But, seeing the look of utter disbelief on his face, she quickly added. "Ah, wait Naruto! He kicked my out for _today. _And _only _today." She saw his expression hadn't changed at all. "Let me explain." Ayame told him about the conversation she and her father had, about how she was working overtime.

Naruto looked relieved. "Oh, I see, your taking a break." He couldn't blame his father for making her do that. As far as he knew, all Ayame _did _was work the ramen stand.

"Well, you can.. call it a break." She sighed.

"Ah.. Soo… why come up here? You could've gone to many other places to spend your day off." Naruto said, trying to keep the conversation going.

"Hmm. I'm not to familiar with this village, even though I was raised here. So I've heard many suggestions from the people who eat at the shop." she answered.

"I see.." said Naruto, urging her to continue.

"But, the number one (actually number two now) reason why I chose here is... hmmnn" she paused, an idea hitting her. "I know. Just let me show you." Ayame moved forward and slowly reached for Naruto's arm. Remembering his warning, her eyes met his, silently asking permission. He nodded.

She took his arm and hooked it with her own. She turned them both, facing away from the village. Ayame, then, dramatically waved her other arm in front of them.

Naruto, followed her arm and instantly knew. He did not need an explanation; this was one of the reasons why he too came up here.

"Since this hill is one of the highest points in the village.." She leaned her head into his shoulder, and he didn't mind "If anyone stood here, they'd see the land over these walls…"

Before them was one of the amazing sights the leaf country could offer. Being on the hill closest to the wall, they could see other hills beyond that. Surrounding those hills was a lush forest, And, to the west, there was a misty water fall that fed into a massive fresh water river. With his eyes, he could see the river had cut through the forest ran to the lands of the west; which, he assumed, would join with the ocean hundreds of miles away.

In the distance, more hills rippled the lands to the north. Though, out of reach of Konoha maintenance, the hills were thoroughly dotted by lush green trees, the edge of the great forest.

"Dazzling, isn't it?" Naruto whispered.

"Yes.. It makes me want to see what else is out there." Ayame responded in a dreamy tone.

-----xXx----

Naruto turned his attention away from the scenery. He looked down at the girl who he'd gained to trust, to his surprise, all within the past hour. Whether, it be because he knew her for a good chunk of his life, or the feeling he had only _now_ begin to realize when ever they spoke to each other; he just trusted her..

'Maybe I already trusted her..'

A picture Ayame handing him bowl of steaming ramen suddenly popped into his head. 'Or.. Maybe because she feeds me ramen. Heh.' he entertained the thought. 'Getting close to someone through their stomach…'

But, musings like this led down to deep memories. Memories, farther than he could clearly remember. It was of the time he met the first two people who had truly ever shown him kindness; outside of the Hokage.

'Its been so long.'

Nearly 7 years ago, during the week of his 6 birthday, Naruto had nearly died of starvation. He had gone five days without eating a decent meal, only rummaging through trash cans for morsels. Add to that, his only access to clean water was through, the public fountains and restrooms. All running water and electricity was denied to him all week by his landlord. No heat, no instant food; he was_ only_ a child, so fire making skills were none existent.

On the sixth day, he had been staggering through the markets in a zombie like state. Until, a delightfully new aroma entered his nostrils. This mouth watering smell had urged him to move his weary legs and follow its trail. Naruto did. But, on the way, he had tripped multiple times; he didn't remember whether it was from his exhaustion or by his blind-hunger.

So, he had rounded the market block, entered an alley and found himself in front of a small walk-in shop. Whether the shop was filled with kind villagers or… the not so kind ones, he didn't care. If he was going to die, it would be surrounded by that heavenly sent.

From here on, his memory became a little foggy. He knew he had stumbled into the shop and promptly collapsed. He had heard someone, who had to have been Ayame, shout out 'Father!'

Naruto couldn't help but smile at the next part of this memory.

He remembered he was near blacking out, but his eyes were still open. He had heard the dropping of a heavy metal object, most like a pan, and turned his head toward the sound. The six year old boy had seen Ayame jump over the counter and move toward him. But, he just closed his eyes, thinking the person was going to drive him out.

He remembered the cold chill that raced through him when his eyes closed. That memory in itself sent similar chills through him. 'I _really_ was going to die.'

But, immediately right after the cold, he remembered an enveloping warmth that started at his lips. It filled his mouth, overwhelming his over sensitized tongue with a flood of flavors. His throat, almost on instinct, loosened into attempt to spread the warmth to the rest of his body.

After a short period, he had felt his body revive a bit when the warmth had spread to his belly. Naruto remembered feeling a hand on his neck, lifting his head up and placing it onto something soft and warm. Then, he felt something, which tasted like wood, slightly widen his jaw. Next, he felt the soft, salty substance that he would soon love through out his life.

Little Naruto had opened eyes to see one the prettiest faces he had ever seen, smiling down at him. He heard her say 'father, it looks like he'll be ok…'. Looking to the left, she saw the person she was talking to. It was an old man, holding a bowl. He too, was also smiling down at him.

At first, Naruto thought he had died, which is why he was feeling the comfortable warmth. And, the girl, who's lap he was laying on, was a heavenly being...

'And there I thought she was angel who came to comfort me..' Naruto chuckled pushing away those emotional memories.

"Whats funny?" He saw she had tilted her head and given him a confused look. Naruto thought she looked cute like that. "Nothing. Just thinking of something."

'On that day, she not only saved my life. She introduced me to ramen!' He chuckled harder.

------xXx------

Ayame was looking up at him since he started chuckling, wondering what was going through his mind. 'What ever it is, it makes him happy.' She noticed, the smile that ran his face. One of the true smiles she had ever seen on his face. This made her smile herself; it was infectious. If only, they could keep smiling like this forever… She sighed and immersed herself into the surrounding

A small breeze was still present, making the green grass sway and wave down the hills. In the air, the sky was clear except for the occasional bird or drifting cloud. The sun, still high, provided a pleasant warmth. She wondered why they couldn't feel like this anywhere else in the village.

'Maybe because I'm with him.' She sighed again.

------xXx-------

After a few minutes of tranquil silence, her eyes landed on the village walls which brought up some old thoughts.

"Naruto?" She nudged him a little.

Her voice, having interrupted his own thoughts, brought him back to the present. "Yea?"

"I've always wondered what its like over these walls. You've been out of these wall before right?" She asked. "And i mean not literally outside within the village sights... I mean truly outside, away from here."

He chuckled again. But, this time, Ayame noticed, it was a lot deeper. She saw his face had lost its calmness. There was no longer a smile, and 'his eyes looked cold… again.' Right there, she knew was something seriously wrong with him. Something was setting off his cold emotions.

Naruto answered in a slightly hoarse voice, "Yes I have, for a mission." His mind started to recall the events of the mission, but quickly blocked it away. "I didn't time to thoroughly enjoy myself, when we were gone. I was quiet busy actually."

'Maybe something happened on the trip to make him act this way!' she exclaimed. But, then realized something she had forgot. But, I've seen this look flash through his face many times before he left… 'No, if anything, the trip just added to what was originally wrong with him…'

"Ayame.. don't think about me like that, please."

Taken aback, she looked to see him grinning at her. 'Wha?!' It wasn't a real smile. It felt hallow.

Naruto closed his eyes and squeezed her arm, bringing her closer to him. "I saw that worried look on her face. So I put two and two together." He sighed. "Just forget about what you were thinking. Just know that I'm fine, and that I can't control my emotions sometimes."

"But.." She tried to ask why, but he'd cut her off.

"But, since you're my friend… when I'm ready, I might answer whatever you were thinking. But, for now please put those thoughts away. Ok Ayame?" He asked as if it were any other question.

"Ok.."

The smile ,that always calmed her, reappeared on his face. "Good, now what were you say about these ugly walls?" he laughed, to clear away the negative air around them.

Feeling the lightened air, she asked a question that she had wanted to ask. "Well, since you got to leave the village for mission, couldn't you leave for.. you know.. an excursion of some sort?"

"A vacation?" He offered.

"Yeah, a vacation. Haven't you ever wanted to have some time relax?" She continued. "Outside of this village."

"Well of course, I've always wanted to. But, I don't think the Hokage's just going to let me leave for sight seeing or anything like that." He responded.

Ayame quirked her eyebrows, "And why is that? Even ninjas need a vacation once in a while right?" She knew from her father that anyone living within the village, with the right papers, could take an extended leave out side of the walls. How else were the thousands of merchants supposed to get the products around the continent. Or, how else would people visit relatives living outside the village.

"Well…" he scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously, "I'm a special case." But seeing a look on her face that said she wanted a more detailed answer, he dropped an orphan card. "I'm an orphan.. Sooo I can't technically do anything like that with out a consent." He added. "Like when I left for the mission. Kakashi, my jonin sensei, was with me and my team."

"That's right! You're a ninja now. Doesn't that mean you're an adult?!" she persisted.

"Um… yes, I'm an adult _here."_ He said slowly.

"What?" Ayame was confused. 'What the hell did he mean by _here? _If you're an adult here, doesn't that mean you're an adult anywhere else?'

"I'm an adult here, within this village, but now out there. Out there, out side of these walls I'm still a minor. A thirteen year old teenager." He was hoping this would be enough to convince her for now. Sure, he had gotten used to lying to people in their faces. With the Kakashi, or the other rookies, he could straight up say he was a girl. And still keep a calm face.

But, Ayame was different. She was actually one of his true friends. Like with Ayame's father, Iruka, and the Hokage, everytime he said a lie to her he felt slightly disgusted with himself. It was just to difficult to prevent himself from looking nervous, let alone keeping calm.

Add to that, his argument was riddled with flaws and holes. Stuff he hoped she didn't already know. Such as the Hokage being his official guardian or the fact that his headband was recognized as a sign of adult hood within the entirety of fire country.

Thankfully she didn't. She had said, "Oh, I see.." Nothing else that would help her own argument came to mind. Also, being reminded of his true age distracted her slightly.

"But enough about me," he said, trying to shift the attention, "what about you?"

"What about me?" She asked, surprised by his sudden question.

"You, know…" Naruto's voice shallowed a bit, "Don't you want to leave this village as well? I mean isn't that why you brought this topic up?"

"Oh. Well yes!" She said excitedly. Apparently, he had turned something on within her. "It's been a dream of mine for a while now." She let detached herself from Naruto's arm, and stepped forward. She looked up at the sky and said, "Since I was a kid, I've always wished to leave this village. To travel and see new places and new sights!" Yep, he triggered something alright.

"Actually outside of the village?" He asked, surprised with her enthusiasm. She displaying something about her Naruto hadn't heard or seen from her yet.

She giggled, 'Ohhh, I'm going to have fun with this..' "Where else?! I want to travel out side of Konoha… and even outside of fire country!"

She spun around once, and laughed. "Wouldn't everything within the leaves be the same?! I wish to see the countries." She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. "I wish to see the different continents. No! Different worlds!" She was fully grinning now.

Naruto was the one laughing now, "Hahaha. Ayame, your just being silly now." This side of her made him feel funny inside. He had seen her giggle like that before. But, those time they were at the ramen shop, she had just teased him. This time, they were laughing to together. Both of them were talking, not as Older sister to a younger brother, but as equals. Friend to friend. Though, still unknown to Naruto, Ayame hoped to be more than a friend.

"Hehehe, I want to travel to new worlds, where there are humans like us." She exclaimed again.

"And, how will you get there? How will you get money? Eat? Sleep? Or where will you even live?" He knew it sounded stupid, but was just too fun. He couldn't help but ask.

Ayame paused, and got into a thinking pose. Her brows scrunched in concentration, hand under her chin, and feet tapping. "Well, I could get one of you ninjas to teleport me or something. Then, when I get there, I could do odd jobs, like cleaning, to pay for food. And, as to where I will sleep or live, I'll be constantly on the move from one place to another. So, I won't need to buy a house or anything." She answered with a serious face.

"But, what about your father and the Ramen shop?" Naruto questioned. His face was also serious.

She turned back around and smirked at him. "Now your being silly. Taking me seriously." Ayame me said with a pout. But, she couldn't hold as they both cracked at the same time and roared into laughter. Never in there short lives, had the ever felt as silly as they did right now. Nor, had they ever had this much fun.

After calming down, Ayame said "Didn't I say it was just a wish." She moved back to him and reattached her arm to his.

"Well it's good wish, silly, but still a good wish." He said, with a goofy smile plastered to his face.

"What are you making that face for? You said it yourself, it's a good wish." Ayame said, traces of humor lingering in her voice.

"Well yeah…"

"Then make it your self then." She snickered.

"What?" Naruto didn't quite understand.

"I said.. make that same wish your self. Since you think it's such a good one." she grinned wickedly, drunk on their silliness and emotions of the day. "Or do you think that since you're a ninja now that you to cool to say stuff like this.

A wisp of the old Naruto appeared. "What!? Fine I will!" He made a goofy pose. "Anyway, I'm cool in whatever I do.

Unknown to both of them, a black butterfly was making its way toward them.

"Right now." She made a gesture with her fingers.

"Ehh?"

Ayame pouted again. " Come on Naruto, Its only words. Here, I'll do it again, so you know what to say."

The black butterfly was now directly over them.

She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply before saying. "_**I, Ayame, wish to leave this village to travel to the different lands.**_" She opened her eyes and looked up to him. "Now your turn."

"Wha... You want me to say that.. Its kinda.. childish..." Naruto said, deadpanned.

"Come on, please? They're just words after all."

"Fine…" This felt ridiculous, but he didn't want to disappoint her by refusing such an easy request.

"**I, Naruto, wish to leave this village to travel the different lands..**" and to embarrass her for making him do this, he added, "…**with Ayame**."

"...." Ayame just stood there gapping at him. Her jaw slacked, but was covered by her hands. Her eyes had widened, and a slight tinge started to grow in her cheeks.

"Well hows that Ayame?" Naruto said, in a teasing tone.

Her blush spread to the rest of her face, and she said, "Gah! Naruto! I didn't say that!!"

"I know, so, why don't you add to your wish as well? I mean, _they're are just words after all" _He mimicked. "Also, you'll need someone to look after you."

She only pouted, and turned her head away from him.

Naruto could only laugh again.

---

After a couple minutes, they both calmed down from their little high and turned to back to the scenery, reverting back into a tranquil mood. Though, they still continued to chat mindlessly.

The butterfly, who had been watching the whole event, fluttered around them a few times before flying off once again.

If flew toward the village, dodging and flying around the multiple obstacles it offered. It went into the clan district, passing the various clan compounds, before landing on a particularly strange gate.

The gate was the only entrance to a walled off area. But within that area was nothing.. no compound, no houses. Not even a single building. The walls and gate, protected nothing but grass.

xXx-------------------------------------------------------------xXx

~~~~Chapter 1: End~~~~

XxX----------------------------------------------------------------------XxX

A/n: If you can guess the what that last bit means, you get a virtual Onigiri. Every one loves onigiri right? Totally better than a cookie. I'll post the names of those who got it right in the next chap.

Also remember, I'm still trying to learn how to write. If you see mistakes, its either I missed it in the revision.... or that i don't know its a mistake. More likely the later.

So review and critique, one of the ways you can help me become a better writer the next chap. Bye.

_"I have plans... big plans.... "_


	3. Chapter 2: Tainted

A/n: Yeah.. Still learning how to write…

***Important: Revised Prologue**- go read it, its somewhat different from the original. Posted the original in a separate story for lulz.*

-Been a month…sorry… College pappers and such..

-Also, as for the continuation of the flash back from chapter 2, I'm sorry this is really taking too long. But, I'm very sure I can get back to the present time (the prologue time) in 1-2 more chapters. I still need to do get rest of the rookies to do their part, else there will be a big hole in the story..

-One more thing. **Warper** gets the sole onigiri for figuring out which anime I made a reference to in chapter 3. Twas xxxholic. It will be continued to be used throughout the Fic. *Hint* You'll see when you begin to read this chap.. V

-Enjoy-

*Note: If you've read this fic last year you'll notice (if ye remember) a slight difference. I'm trying my absolute best to make this fic at least half decent...

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

"**Anything of significance" **

**'Any thought of significance'**

**Such as, Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or anything else that resembles anything copyrighted. Hell, a lot of this is inspiration from other stuff. **== Was significant, so its bold.

-------------------------------------------------------------

~~~~~~~~Chapter 2: Tainted~~~~~~~~

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

xXx-------Unknown Location-------xXx

In a large room, an elegantly dressed woman is seen laying on one the most eloquent looking chairs in existence. It looked more like a cross between a bed and a throne. Its backing was slim at the bottom but expanded out like a flower; its lining was a type of smooth wood with soft padding. The _one _armrest was also as exaggerated as the backing and also made of the same smooth wood and soft padding. The chair's seat was a bit different. It was slim enough for someone to sit up straight and have their feet touching the ground, but wide enough to allow a tall human to fully lay down.

The woman, herself was someone of exquisite beauty. Though laying on her back, one could tell she was stunningly tall. One of her long slender arms was lying over her delicate waist. The other, was at her side, forearm bent up. In her hand was a slim pipe that had a steady stream of smoke coming out of one end.

She had long, elegantly black hair that reached her thighs. Her face was pale, but still strikingly beautiful. She had thin lips that were an exotic shade of lavender. Her eyes, before she closed them, were sensually fierce as if there was an unimaginable amount of power behind them.

The attire she wore was a long black kimono that hugged her thin, hourglass figure. It adored numerous butterfly figures that seemed to fly around the woman, instead of just being a simple design. For, the dress was no where near simplistic.

The woman rustled around with the chair , wondering her free hand as if she were looking for some thing. No success , she opened her eyes again and lifted her head up slightly to scan the room. No one was there other than her own self. She looked at the sliding doors at the front of the room and spotted that they were opened.

'Good, he's still here.' The woman thought. She mewed softly as she stretched her nimble frame, freeing herself of multiple muscle kinks. Then, she turned and laid out on her side, resting her head on her up-turned arm.

She closed her eyes and let out a shallow hum, this caused her skin to glow. For a few seconds, golden light radiated from her body, lighting up the room.

When it died down she reopened her violet eyes and smiled. She took her slim pipe and brought it to her beautiful lips, inhaling from its end. She turned her head toward the door and let out a small puff of smoke. The puff began to glowed just as she was a few seconds ago. It reformed in mid air, molding itself into some sort of ring.

The woman continued by letting out another puff. This time it flew forward, it went through the ring and started to glow as well. The ring disappeared as the glowing puff began to shrink, compacting itself to make something solid.

As glow died down, what was left was a small black butterfly. It was alive, flapping it's wing and hovering above the ground.

"Hello there," The woman greeted the butterfly. "Now tell me what I need to know…"

The butterfly complied by flying to the woman's ear. It fluttered around for a few seconds before flying back to the space in front of her.

"They'll be there soon" The woman said softly. She, then, looked back at the butterfly and thanked it, before it turned back into smoke and disappeared into the air.

"Watanuki!" The woman called out. She sat up right in her chair, leaning back and crossing her legs.

A few seconds later she heard a pair of shoes padding across the wooden floor. A voice called out, "Yes Yuulo-san?"

The woman, who is named Yuuko, replied, "Come here."

The padding continued untill it stopped, and a figure poked a head through the door. "Yes Yuuko?"

"Come here, we need to prepare for a trip." She said, stretching her arm out.

The figure fully opened the sliding doors and revealed himself to be a teenage boy. Judging his face, his age was around sixteen or seventeen.

He was tall, nearly as tall as the woman. He was wearing a school uniform of some sort which fit his body tightly, making him seem a lot taller. He short, messy black hair and a pair of rectangular glasses. But, behind those glasses were a strang feature. The boy, Watanuki, had unique pair of eyes. His right pupil was light purple, while his left was a pale brown.

Watanuki came forward and asked, "So where will we be going this time?"

Yuuko stood up, and said, "We'll be going to my shop and home…" She walked till she was directly in front of the boy.

"I.. thought.. this _was _shop and home.." Watanuki responded.

"Yes, it is. We'll be coming here."

"Here?" Watanuki asked, being a bit too confused.

She reached out and caressed his cheeks, "Yes.. Here."

xXx-------------------------------------xXx

~~~~~Konoha~~~~~

---------------------------xXx---------------------------

Naruto and Ayame slowly walked down from the largest hill in Konoha. It was only a couple hours ago did they form a friendship. Not the brother-sister type they had when ever Naruto visited the shop, but a real one of equal standing. They had spent the past hour chatting aimlessly with one another, getting to know each other. They had talked about their likes, dislikes, hobbies, useless gossip and many other topics.

The sun was still high, being only three o' clock, when they decided to come down from the hill. Ayame was walking in front, with Naruto hanging back a bit behind her. He was whistling a slight tune that went well with their current surroundings.

The hills which they had been, were near the northern edge of the village, where the Hokage mountain was situated. The forest that surrounded the village was at its thickest here, so part of it had actually went ever the walls and into the actual village. With the help of maintenance, the area they were currently in made a park which the public was open to.

Wide open spaces of green grass, and a few sprouting trees made this a perfect place for people to come to relax and have fun.

As Naruto and Ayame neared the bottom of the hill, Naruto spotted a bunch of kids playing, what appeared to be, 'oni', and thought came to him. He looked toward Ayame and called out, "Ayame! Your free the rest of the day, right?" Earlier, she had explained to him that her father had 'made' her take a break from working at the Ramen shop.

With out turning, she said with a hint of hope, "Yea. Why'd you ask?"

"Oh, well since I already burned a few hours of your time, why not spend the rest with your closer friends?" he hesitated, "I mean, you don't want to spend the rest your day with me, huh?"

Ayame was silent for a few seconds before replying, "What if I were to tell you I wanted to spend the rest of the day with you?"

Naruto blinked, "But, why would you waste it with me, and not with your other friends? I'm sure you'll have a better time with them."

Still walking, Ayame simply said, "I only have one friend, and I'm already spending time with him."

Naruto paused mid step, but continued walking and stared at the back of her head. He had mixed feelings with what she just said. He felt overall confusion, not knowing whether he fully understood her words. One understanding he thought of, made him feel slightly hurt and envious. But, the other understanding he came up with alarmed him, and made him hope it was the before.

"W-wha-what do you mean?" Naruto shakily asked, wanting her to say she had another. He tried his best to ignore the slight twinge in his heart, or the thoughts his inner self hoping for the later option.

She cleared her throat, "I mean.. you are, currently, my only friend." She stopped walking, turned to him and grinned, "So that means I'll be spending the rest of the day with you!"

Naruto stopped. Her answer wasn't what he wanted, but that in itself wasn't enough to startle him so... It was her facial expressions and tone of voice that she used that made him stop.

His mind was in a frenzy to think of a reason why she said that, or even why she was acting like this was totally fine. He tried to think back to other memories that he had of her; any signs of people that could have possibly been her friend.

But, he remembered that this was the only time he had seen her out of the shop. Not once, had he seen her outside, hanging out or interacting with other people.

Hell, even within the shop, he'd hardly seen her talk to any of the customers; only a greeting, their orders, and a goodbye. The only person Naruto remembered Ayame talking to while he was there… was him…

'When ever I ate there, she was either preparing ramen, taking orders, or… talking to me..' His face reflected severe signs of realization.

Ayame, who had paused to allow him to think it over, said, "Do you realize it now? Naruto?" Her was so smooth and calm, it seemed so unnatural to use in this type of conversation.

"B-but, what about your friends you made at the shop?" he persisted, not wantind to accept her words. "I mean, your so kind, smart, and beautiful. How could anyone not want to make friends with you."

Ayame widened her grind, "There, that's it Naruto! Do you understand now?"

"Wait. What's it? I have no idea what you're saying." She just not making sense now, and he was thoroughly confused.

"Up until now, you've been the only one to ever have said those words to me." She got closer and hooked her arm with his. "Now, lets get going."

"Ayame…"

"Yes. Naruto could you please take your little drama show somewhere else." A voice said from their left.

The two blinked at each other before turning to the owner of the voice. They blinked again. Laying on the grass a couple of yards away from them was another teen. He was laying on his back, with his hands behind his head and one leg over the other. He had on a pair of black pants, and a black mesh shirt underneath a small pale green jacket. Like all ninja's within the village, he had a Konaha headband, which was attached to his arm.

The boy had medium length hair, which he tied back, forming spikes. This made his head look like a pineapple. So, Naruto addressed him as such.

"Oi! Pineapple head, how's it going?" Naruto turned to Ayame and said. "I'm pretty sure you've seen him and his friends around your shop." She nodded, "Yes, I've seen him a couple times with company."

"Yeah, his name's Shikamaru. I graduated the academy with him. And, seeing as he still has his headband, he also became a Genin rookie like me." He laughed, "Though its hard to believe."

Ayame tilted her head. And Shikamaru groaned.

"He's extreamly lazy." Naruto said, answering her unspoken question.

"You do know I can hear you, right?" Shikamaru said, still laying down the way they had found him.

"Yup. " Naruto answered with a sly grin. He was clearly having a little fun.

"…." Shikamaru, just looked up at the sky. But, his body radiated irritation.

"What?! It's true. Look how you're talking to me right now." Naruto poked.

The other teen rubbed his temples and groaned. "Look, just go away. I don't want to deal with your troublesome self today."

Naruto made an exaggerated gesture with his finger pointing at Shikamaru "See! Lazyness."

Shikamaru groaned again and mumbled 'troublesome'. He lifted his head and looked at Ayame. "Girl, If were you, I'd stay away from him. He's just to troublesome." Then he dropped his back onto the ground.

Ayame quirked her head to the side and looked at him questionably.

Naruto made a rude gesture with his eye, "Shove off pineapple head, go back to your clouds."

Shikamaru's eye twitched "Tche. What ever, go away Naruto. I don't have to deal with you till the exams."

"What exams?"

"Just go away. That's Kakashi's job." He laid back down and continued to stare into the sky.

Naruto grumbled and said, "Whatever to you too pineapple head. Lets go Ayame." He took her arm and started to walk. But, before they got out of range, Shikamaru said one last thing, "Remember what I said girl."

Naruto turned his head back to him and made a rude gesture with his tongue.

--------------

They walked for a bit before Ayame broke the silence. "Was he your friend?" she asked.

"Well, sort of. He's one of the people I talked with at the academy." Naruto answered.

"Are you sure? It sure sounded like you weren't." she said.

Naruto scratched his cheek and chuckled lightly, "Well, that's how we joked around with each other." He thought back to the people he hanged around with at the academy. "That's how we talked to each other back them. We always threw insults and stuff like that at each other. It was all for fun though."

Ayame had a worried look on her face. "Are you sure? Shikamaru sounded serious to me."

"Shikamaru? serious?!" Naruto laughed. "Those two words shouldn't be used in the same sentence. No, we were just joking with each other." he looked thoughtful, "At least, I was… Nah. Forget about it. Lets go."

She stayed silent for a second before noding, "Sure."

---

The two walked out of the area and entered the shopping district. This wasn't like the market district, which was for fresh ingrediants, raw materials and usual utilities. This was where people went to shop for merchandise, material goods and the like. Similar to the multi complex malls in the fire country's capital. So, this was one of the 'hot spots', reeling in the youth of the village.

It was still the early afternoon, so it was filled with tons of people going about their business. Arcades, restaurants, clubs, shops and even bars were packed. There were no divisions of ranks here. Mixed among the civilians, were also a large amount of Shinobi. Though, it was the young, less experienced ones, seen on the streets. The seasoned killers, were probably drinking in the dark corners of the bars.

"Hmm, maybe there isn't many missions today…" Naruto mumbled absently. 'There's so many people…' He looked at the villagers, then turned to the girl next her and asked, "Wana stay.. h-here Ayame, or wana go somewhere else?"

"Yea! I haven't really looked around here before. I've passed this place so many times, but didn't have the time because I was either delivering ramen, or picking up ingredients. This'll be my first time in the shopping district!" she said excitedly, not noticing the slight crack in his words.

Naruto paused. "Wait… Ichiraku does delivery?!" This was news to him. He took a moment to imagine the idea. The thought of Ayame bringing ramen to him everyday made him shiver… and drool slightly.

Ayame gasped and covered her mouth with her hands.. 'Crap! Dad said not to tell him that!' "Um… Naruto! Look over there!" she grabbed his hand, shaking him from his thoughts, and pulled him off to a shop. "It's dango restaurant! I love dango."

"Ehh! B-b-b-but Ayame. Ummm- what about ramen if your hungry." He tried to resist her pull, but she persisted.

"No buts, I want dango. Any way, I'm sick of ramen right now." This stunned him.

"Sick… of… ramen…?" he said, in a ghost like state. The idea of being sick of ramen nearly comatose'd him.

Ayame saw this, and took the opportunity to drag him to a stall, drop him into a seat, and then sit across from him. She took up her hands and clapped them in front of his face.

He jolted, "Wha!? What happened?!" he looked around to see that he was sitting in a restaurant stall. "Wha? Were are we again?"

After a few seconds, his confusion turned to panic as he noticed the amount of people that around them. He looked around and found a few ninjas, but most were civilians. Some of them, already noticing his presence, glared at him. A few, the ones he was worried about, were also glaring at Ayame.

"We're in a dango place, " She handed him a menu, unaware of the glares, "Now look for something to order, I already know what I want."

Naruto took the menu and flipped thru it. He nearly sweat dropped. 'Fried Dango, dango sticks, skewered dango, baked dango, dango balls, dango squares.. dango… stars?! Its all dango… just prepared differently….' He looked up her to see her looking at him patiently. He looked back down at the menu. 'She's serious….'

He put down the menu. "Err.. I guess I'll get the skewered dangos." 'it's the only thing I recognize…'

Ayame smiled, "I'm also getting that." She waved at a waitress. Naruto stiffened, and ducked his head a bit. But, he forced him self to calm a little when he saw that the waitress heading to there table was only a pretty girl, around their age. 'Plus… she's smiling…"

"Hello sir, miss, welcome to Dango-Chan (A/n: LOL), what will you be having to day?" she asked, smiling at the two teenagers.

Naruto smiled back; though, a little too hesitantly. "U-um, I-I'll have 6 sticks of dango… please." His face turned a bit red and droplets of sweat began to form on his head.

Ayame pouted slightly at the scene, imagining his actions to be shyness, "I'll have 6 sticks as well" she said curtly.

The girl ignored her rudeness and wrote down the order onto a pad and asked, "What would you like to drink?"

"Juice." Ayame replied.

Naruto's actions were not shyness of course. Right now, he was still terrified. 'Dose she really not know who I am? I haven't seen her before… maybe she's new to the village.' He looked around at everyone else, the ones with eyes glued to their table. 'Well.. those people aren't new. But, they aren't doing anything. Most likely because of the other ninja.' He slumped in his chair and sighed. 'I guess I can relax a little, huh..'

"Alright." The girl turned to Naruto. "And you sir?"

He thought about it for a moment, before answering, "Chilled sake bottle, with a cup please."

"Huh?! Excuse me, but did you say, you wanted sake?"

This some what stunned Ayame. "What? Wait. Naruto…"

"What? I haven't had sake in a while. Not since the last mission." He said, as if there wasn't anything wrong.

She sputtered, "B-b-but you're to young!" It wasn't like she wasn't totally against the idea of Naruto drinking sake. It's not like she hadn't snuck a sip or two from the sake she cooked with when she was his age. But, they were in a public place; he could get into a lot trouble.

She leaned her body toward him, and whispered into his ear. "Pssst, Naruto! The drinking age is 16! Even though you look it, there could be someone around who knows your real age. You could get arrested." Stopping to realize something, her widened her eyes. "_I _could get arrested! People will think I bought the sake for you!" She shook his arms.

Before Naruto could calm her, the waitress interrupted them.

"Um, I'm sorry but.. you said something about missions.." She raised a brow, " Could it be that your also a ninja?" she asked.

Naruto nodded and turned to Ayame, "That's what I was about to say," he reached into his jumpsuit's pocket and pulled out a Konoha headband. "All shinobi are allowed to drink, regardless of their age or rank."

He tucked it back into his pocket. "Also, its not only allowed here. This law is recognized in all countries. 'Old enough to kill, Old enough to drink.' Only thing a ninja needs to do is pull out his headband, or Kunai I.D." He laughed. "Though, in Konoha, this law isn't really advertised to the genin."

"Oh.." Ayame slumped in her chair. She looked at Naruto and the waitress; both were smiling at her.

She felt a little irritated; at them, and her own ignorance. "Well.. I'll change my mind." She looked to the waiter. "I'll have chilled Sake too."

"Wha?! Have you ever had sake before?!" Naruto asked, taken aback by her sudden change of refreshments.

"Of course I have, I'm not a kid ya know." She looked at the waiter, seeing if she got the order.

The waiter nodded, thought a little slowly, "So, a sake bottle and cup for the both of you." She checked her pad. "I'll be back in a few minutes with your dango and sake. Excuse Me." She turned and left.

---

As she left, Naruto turned back to Ayame. "Are you sure, you've had sake before?" He stared at her face.

She averted her eyes to the window next to her. "Errr…. I had… a few… cups.. or… sips.."

"Sips!?!" twitched Naruto. 'If anything happens to her….' He looked around the restaurant again. 'Witnesses… Fuck!' He cursed. 'This is what I get for trying to make a friend…'

"But Ayame-" He started, but was interrupted.

"Oh! Naruto. It's a shock to see you in a place like this."

Naruto turned. The new comers standing next to their stall were his jonin sensei, and… the other male member of his cell…

"ehh… Sensei." He turned to the younger of the two. "And Emo…"

The 'emo' scowled, and looked away.

"Well, hello to you too." Kakashi smiled behind his mask, his eyes making a crescent shape. He looked around him, then at the stall they were standing infront of. "Hmm, it's a pretty packed place. How bout we share a stall. Ne?"

Naruto groaned inwardly and sent an apologinzing looked toward his companion.

Ayame, who had been observing the other two ninjas, waved her hands, "No no, I don't mind Naruto."

Naruto sighed and slumped his head. 'I was hoping for her to refuse the… excess company..' He spotted the space next her. 'But, I'd be damned if one of them to seat next to her.'

He grudgingly slipped from his seat and got up. He walked next to Ayame, and was about to sit before Kakashi stopped him.

He had placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Whoa.. When did you get this tall?" Kakashi brought him closer and whistled. "Your even nearing _my_ height.

"Kheh.." Naruto shook off Kakashi's hand and sat next to Ayame. "You would've noticed if we had any team meetings." He watched as his sensei and teammate take the seats in front of them.

"Well, I already explained it to you and Sakura. But, Sasuke needs one on one training on how to fully control his sharingan ."Kakashi pointed his thumb at the spikey, black haired teen sitting next to him.

"The sharingan's to dangerous to be used untrained. Its just to powerful." Kakashi said.

"Yeah, dope. The sharingan's too important to the village." said Sasuke, finally speaking. His chest was puffed out, and faced adorned a smug looking smile. "We all need to make some.. sacrifices."

"Shut it Emo." Naruto growled out. He clenched his fists, and tensed the rest of his body.

"Talent less Dope." Sasuke retorted. He sat up straight, trying to look as superior as possible.

"Power hungry bastard…" Naruto's muscles had coiled, waiting to spring.

"Monst-" "Enough! Both of you!" Kakashi ordered. "I don't want the two of you starting a fight in this restaurant. Now sit."

Sasuke sneered but crossed his arms and looked out the window, not wanting to anger his sensei. But, Naruto continued to growl. He knew what his team mate was about to call him. And it pissed him off severely.

Ayame saw that Naruto was still growling, so she held onto his arm from under the table. He subsided a little. 'I've never seen Naruto openly show this much malice.' she thought.

Kakashi cleared his throat. "Now, I still wanted to ask about your about… your sudden _growth spurt."_ He said, looked straight at Naruto.

Naruto, having somewhat collected himself, simply said, "There's nothing to talk about _sensei,_ its just as you say it is, a _growth spurt._"

Kakashi narrowed his eyes and leaned forward. His voice, brought down to a whisper. "Is it really? Or does it have something to do with… your _tenant?_" he asked so quietly, that only Naruto could hear.

"No.. sensei.. Its not." Naruto said, a little to roughly.

They stared at each other, looking for signs of what the other was thinking. They both had on serious faces, being careful not to waver. This had caused the other two occupants wonder what all this was about. 'Whats happening?'

--

The two would have continued to stare, had the waitress not interrupt them by placing a plate of food in front of Naruto. "Here is your dango, sir." She placed another plate in front of Ayame. "And here is yours miss."

"Oh, thank you miss." Naruto said, thankful for her intervention. "Yes, thank you. This looks very delicious." Ayame said softly, eyeing the skewered treats. Her eyes had glossed over slightly.

The waitress bowed, "My pleasure." She turned to the two newcomers, greeted them, and asked, " What will you two be having? Any drinks?"

Sasuke just stared at Naruto, completely ignoring the waitress. Kakashi waved his hand, " No thank you, we're just having a chat with him." He pointed at Naruto, whose brow twitched slightly.

"I see.." The waitress said, looking at Naruto's agitated face. It seemed the two newcomers were irritating the blonde teenager. She glanced back at the other two. 'They don't seem… to be causing any trouble.' she thought. She looked at the lone female on the table. 'But, she doesn't seem to mind them.. She's just staring at the dangos..'

"Um.. Right. I'll bring you your drinks. Excuse me." the waiter left toward the kitchens.

---

Naruto examined the food in front of him. 'Sweet dumpling on a stick…' He lifted one, brought it closer to his nose, and sniffed. 'Nothing… Well… nothing of the stuff civilians could get their hands on.'

The teen clapped his hands and said thanks "Itadakimasu." Then, he popped one of the balls into his mouth and tasted its sweet, chewyness.

Ayame mimicked Naruto's thanks; though, a little more enthusiastically.

Kakashi, who had been watching the seen, finally took notice the girl that was accompanying his student. He watched as she enjoyed her dango. She would occasionally turn to chat with Naruto, talking about how delicious the dango was.

"You two seem to be enjoying yourselves.." Kakashi said to the teens in front of him.

Naruto and Ayame stopped eating, and looked at the Jonin.

He looked at Ayame, and asked, "You're the ramen girl that works at the shop Naruto likes to eat at right?" He saw her look him funny and slowly nod her head.

"We haven't properly introduced ourselves to you yet, but I'm sure you had figured it out already. I'm Kakashi Hatake, Naruto's Jonin sensei. And he" he pointed at Sasuke, "is Uchiha Sasuke, my other student, and Naruto's teammate." Sasuke grunted, his attention now on the girl.

Naruto snorted. "Sensei and teammate he says." he mumbled.

Ignoring Naruto's comment, Kakashi continued, "We, and another ninja named Sakura, make up team 7." he ended with his usual crescent smile.

"I see….." catching herself. "Oh, I'm sorry, my name is Ichiraku Ayame, pleasure to meet the both of you." she bowed.

"Ah, yes." Kakashi looked between the two teens and took up a pondering tone "You've got me curious. What's the occasion that brought the both of you to eat at this restaurant, instead of the ramen shop?"

"Ehhh!? What's so bad about two people eating coming to eat here?" Naruto asked, a bit irritated.

Kakashi held out his palms, "Nothing, Nothing wrong. A sensei can't help but be interested in finding out whether or not their student is currently dating."

Sasuke scoffed after that statement. "Hah. As if the dope could find himself a girlfriend." he said, trying to ridicule his teammate in front of Ayame. But, too bad for him, his attempt hadn't worked. Ayame was too smart to even listen to his babble. While, Naruto understood the different consequences that'd surface, had he _violently_ reacted to the jibe. He was with Ayame. He looked around the shop… He could not risk her well being.

"Sensei.. Listen, carefully." Naruto slowed his speach. "We.. Are. Not.. Dating."

Ayame added, "Yes Kakashi-san, its nothing like that." She waved her hands negatively, "We ran into each other, and decided to have a bite to eat here."

But, Kakashi continued his inquiry "Hmmm.. are you sure you _only _ran into each other? Hmmmm." he yawned, "After all, hormones make teenagers do a lot of things… huh?"

Naruto started to growl again, his mouth parting to reveal his canines. Through clenched teeth, he hissed, "Kakashi… stop making assumptions about the two of us.. We.. are just here.. to eat.. some freakin.. dango."

'Just what the hell are you thinking….'

"You mean, Kakashi-_sensei_." Kakashi said nonchalantly.

Hearing those words, Naruto nearly slammed his palm into the table. But, he forced a stop at the very last second. 'No! Theres too many people..' He closed his eyes and said, "I'll call you that when you start to actually _teach _me.."

"What? If it wasn't for my teachings, you'd be de--" Kakashi's retort was cut short by the returning waitress.

"Excuse me, but here are your drinks sir, miss." She placed a bottle and drinking cup each in front of Naruto and Ayame, who expressed their gratitude. "I hope you enjoy the rest of your meal." She smiled at the two, "Feel free to take your time, and call me when you need anything else. Enjoy."

Ayame watched as the waitress left. 'She has a great sense of timing.' she thought. "She's a nice girl, isn't she?"

Naruto couldn't help but completely agree as he too watched the girl leave. He quickly picked up the bottle and took a sniff from it's tip. 'Yeah… she's a very nice girl…. But, what if she knew…' He could pictured any one of the villagers in this restaurant having an 'educational' chat with the girl, the moment they'd leave.

The teen sighed, dismissing the thought. 'It doesn't make a difference…" He took up the sake cup and poured some of the delightful liquid into it; he couldn't help but admire sake. To him, sake was one of the purest things ever to be made by man, for it was so clear and very much untainted. 'Maybe because it's loved by so many?'

Naruto brought the cup to his lips with the full intent of enjoying the alcohol, but before a single drop could enter he was once interrupted by his sensei for umpteenth time tody.

"Wait Naruto." Said Kakashi with his hands out. "Is that Sake?!"

Naruto answered with a flat-out _yes,_ then proceeded to down his entire cup.

Sasuke watched this display and spoke up, "Oi Dope! Your underage. Its against the law to drink alcohol." He smiled, thinking that he finally had something over his blonde teammate. "You'll definitely get detained for this."

Naruto just glanced at Uchiha for a second before pouring himself another cup. He brought it to his lips again, but this time he drank the sake in sips and enjoyed it's wonderful taste. "Look idiot.. Don't you find it weird that we're old enough to kill, yet there is a law that states we're too young to drink?

Sauske bristled slightly at his teammate's idiot insult, but he still thought about the rest of his comment. "We're ninja, we're allowed to kill."

"For missions," Naruto added. He took another sip, his started to feel a slight buzz as the alcohol started to affect him. 'It sure has been a while…' "This also means that, as ninja, we are allowed to drink alcohol no matter what the age." He grinned.

Sasuke's eyes widened and he turned to his sensei for confirmation. "Is this true?!"

Kakashi palmed his face, silently cursing his blonde student for saying that and himself for not preventing this. "Yes.. It's true.. But you're not supposed to know this stuff." he twitched as he spotted Naruto taking another sip. "Actually, all Genin are not supposed to know this exception."

"What?! Then if it's allowed, I want to drink Sake as well." Demanded the Uchiha. He wasn't going to just sit there and let the dope one-up him on something as simple as drink, even if it _was_ alcohol.

"Well thanks Naruto." Kakashi muttered irritably, "Some how… you've effortlessly made me job harder.. again.."

Naruto waved his hand, "Meh.. I'm just returning the favor."

----

Kakashi got up from the table and looked out the window, he looked at the sky and tried to get a feel for the time. He rubbed his temples and turned to his prodigy student. "If you still want to try out the sake, I know a bar we can go too that only allows entrance to fellow shinobi."

He turned to his other student and looked at him impassively. "About what you said earlier, we actually have a team meeting in about two weeks. That should be more than enough time for Sasuke to master the first level of the sharingan." He did a once over of Naruto's body, "By looking, I can tell you've been doing some training. But what kind… I can't tell. Just continue to train over during this time, I'll come by once and a while to check on you."

He motioned for Sasuke head for the exit, who reluctantly obey. When the Uchiha reached decent amount of distance, Kakashi leaned forward and whispered in a serious voice. "If something happens that involves your tenant in anyway.. You right report as fast as you can to me or the Hokage?"

Naruto bared his teeth, 'That bastard…. Ayame can hear him!'

"Do. You. Understand?" Kakashi asked, noticing his aggressive expressions.

"_Yes_…" naruto growled out.

"Good." With that, Kakashi left to catch up with the Uchiha.

---

With his sensei gone, he turned to a face a confused looking Ayame. She had a stick of dango in her hand and was looking at him like she wanted answers.

Naruto grimaced, and downed another cup of sake. "Please forget about what my idiot sensei said, he was… talking about some ninja stuff." He took her bottle and poured some of its contents in her cup. "Here, enjoy your drink."

Ayame, who had slightly gotten used to his ambiguity, merely glared at him and picked up her cup. But, when she tipped the sake into her mouth, she began to cough as her throat wasn't used to the foreign liquid.

"uahuu…" she coughed, "It looked a lot easier when she you did it.." She brought up her hand to massage her throat.

Naruto watched all this and laughed at her comical reaction. "That was funny," he poured sake into her cup once again. "Here, try again. But, this time, drink it slowly. In tiny sips."

She nodded her head accepting the cup, she listened to what he said and drank a little at a time. When she finished her cup, Ayame took a while to register the lingering taste in her mouth. Then, she looked up to him and said, "Its good!."

Naruto sighed in relief. "Heh, I'm glad you like it." he turned back to his own plate of food and began to eat his dango.

They finally had the chance to enjoy the rest of their meal, so they to took their time and talked with each other. They talked about random things, such as their likes, dislikes, and various hobbies. Though, they did try to avoid some topics, such as ninjas in general and Naruto's past. While they talked, they also laughed and smiled, both genuinely enjoying the other's company.

--

This continued till it was finally dark, and the dango restaurant was beginning to close. Somewhere between their conversations, they decided to order more food and… sake. So now, scattered along their table were a mess of plates, skewers, and bottles.

Naruto was now sitting quietly, starring at the sake cup in his hands. His face was flushed and it adorned a small smile, this hinted at signs of his inebriation.

As for Ayame, she was clearly tipsy. She had wrapped her arm around Naruto's own arm and leaned her head to rest on his shoulder. Her hand that belonged to arm currently possessing the Naruto, held a bottle of sake which she poured for the both of them. In her other hand was a stick of dango, which… she used as a microphone.

"_dango, dango, dango, dango, dango ,daikazoku""yancha na yaki dango yasashii an dango""mi-mi-minna minna awasete hyaku nin kazoku""akachan dango ha itsumo shiawase no naka de""toshiyori dango ha me wo hosometeru…"_

Half way through she paused and giggled out, "I forgot the rest of the song…" and turned to full laughter.

Naruto laughed along side her. "It was good enough though… you have a very nice voice."

She snuggled closer to him and said, "Thank you.. your the first person I've ever sang too." she looked at the bottle in her hand chuckled, "Heh, this is what it's like to be drunk…. I should really get home soon.. before I anything else stupid."Naruto snorted, "Yeah.. We should get going." He unlatched him self from her arm and stood up. "I'll walk with you home." He stuck out his hand.

"Okay.." she grabbed his hand and stood up, though her unsteady legs forces her use him as suppoert. "Lets go."

---

Having already paid for the meal and leaving a generous tip to the waitress, whos name they found out was Aira. They stepped out of the shop and began their walk under the night sky. After a few minutes Ayame had somehow regained control of her legs. She walk along Naruto's side and thought about her day, and how she enjoyed being with him.

Naruto, also similar thoughts.

----

As they approached the ramen shop, Naruto asked a question that's been bugging him for the past few minutes., "Umm… Ayame?"

"Yea"

"Where exactly do you live? I mean.. the both of you don't live in that shop.. Right?" He scratched his head.

She giggled, "Hehe, of course not, we live in an apartment down this alley." She pointed at a wide, market alley way that was across from the shop. This wasn't the kind of alley that was between two buildings, but it was more like a smaller version of the market streets.

They entered the alley way, and headed for the apartments at the end. Naruto looked around and said, "Wow.. it gets pretty dark here, huh?"

Ayame nodded, and pointed at the shops that surrounded them, "But, during peak hours, this place'll be filled with villagers."

Those words made him shiver.

Nearing the apartments, Ayame also asked a question that's been on her mind. "Naruto? It seems you haven't be one any missions for a while right?"

"Yeah.. I haven't had a mission for about a month." Naruto answered, silently cursing Kakashi.

"So you've been training since then?"

"Yeah. I've been training really hard.. Heh, which is why you found me on the hill today. I was resting after doing training. Why do you ask?"

"Oh… Cause I was wondering, since you seem to be resuming your ninja duties in two weeks that we could.. um… spend some time with each other.?"

"Oh.. you mean hang out?"

"Yeah. When your not busy or training of course."

"….Don't you have to work at the shop?"

"We'll. I'm only supposed to work in the morning.. The rest of they day, I'm either reading.. or doing other things."

They stopped in front of the apartment entrance.

Naruto thought for a moment before responding, "I.. I think I'd like that.." He scratched his cheek. "I think I'll just train in the mornings, then we could hang our sometime after lunch.

Ayame's face lit up. "Really?" She moved forward to hug him. "Thank you."

Naruto just stood, before slowly hugging back. "I guess.. this is what friends do.."

xXx-------------------------------------------------------------xXx

~~~~~Chapter 2: End~~~~~

XxX-------------------------------------------------------XxX

A/n: Yeah.. I wanted to strengthen Naruto and Ayame's relationship, while slowly bringing up some other characters. Actually.. Am I spending too much time on their interactions?

-I'll be using xXxHolic as a way to explain how Naruto will be traveling the worlds.. Ops… a revelation.

New challenge: Without looking up the lyrics, try to guess were the song came from? The answer: Japan, is not right….

-Lastly, my writing is still very poor. My vocabulary is still very pure. But, I'm slowly learning (I think). But I still love writing, and will continue. So, till next time, Bye. (^.^)v


	4. Chapter 3: Strength

Yea, I haven't updated in what... a couple months I'm sorry to those who actually like this fic. Right, heres another chapter. Hopefully its not that bad. Me want a BETA.. Also, those who haven't read xXxHolic before and have absolutely no idea who Watanuki and Yuuko are... Well, in canon xXxHolic, Yuuko is a mystical time witch and... Watanuki is a tokyo highschool student who sees spirits and somehow becomes Yuuko's personal slave... err employee. Of course, I've made some changes to the canon , for I have not read any other CLAMP manga *except for chobits*, to learn more about the changes read my other fic **"A trick, and a treat".** That fic will cross over with this. It sounds complicated, but I assure you it is not.

---------------------------xVx---------------------------

~~~~~Unknown Location~~~~~

---------------------------XxX--------------------------

Two people are seen walking through the hall of what appeared to be a normal Japanese style home. At least, thats what one would assume at first glance. But, like everything else, it is almost always the second glance that counts...

The two figures maneuvered through the hallways with ease, making their way to their desired destination. The floor the two walked on was made out of a dark hardened wood, which made a slight tap with every step. The walls that surrounded them were as thin as paper, but sturdy enough to hold against damage. Depicted on the walls were different murals. They were murals of the sky: of the Night and of the Day, of the clouds and the sun, and of the different moons.

Neatly arranged throughout the home were the usual traditional Japanese furnitures such as tables, shelves, lamps, chairs, and other necessities. But, there were also some furniture that were not-so-traditional. Placed among many of the shelves and tables were numerous strange objects and items. There were tomes, cauldrons, statues of mythical beings, and star shaped mirrors. Miniature beasts, dusty scrolls, ornate jewelry, foreign weapons, and many other brow-raising objects were also mixed in.

But, the two merely ignored all this. They continued walking till they came to a door at the end of the hall. The younger of two reached out and slid open the door till it was wide enough to allow entrance for the both of them.

The older walked in first said, "Why thank-you Watanuki, such a gentleman."

The teenage boy, Watanuki, just sighed and said, "Stop patronizing and explain what we're doing Yuuko-san." He followed her into what looked to be a storage room of sorts. All around them, dusty shelves covered every inch of walls and boxes littered the floor. Automatically, he began to stack the boxes in attempt to organize this disorder.

But Yuuko stopped him, "Wait, there _is_ a reason why I don't normally allow you to clean this room." She started rummaging through the shelves, gently pushing past objects which barred her search. "There are a few items here even I wouldn't want to be holding for certain periods of time."

The brunette continued with her search. But after a few minutes of carefully going from one shelf then moving to another she paused and let out an irritated huff. 'sigh…' Throwing caution into the wind she resumed her search, though... a bit too recklessly. She went through the shelves, practically shoving everything to the side. Every once in a while she would take hold of an item, examine closely for a few seconds, then toss it away with a dissatisfied look.

Watanuki just watched from the side as his employer threw numerous artifacts, possibly hundreds of years old, into the wall and a few times towards him which he had to duck away. "Yuuko-san!"

Still looking through the shelves, she answered, "What is it Watanuki? Can't you see that I'm a bit busy." She picked up small shiny square object and tossed it to Watanuki. "Hold that for me."

Watanuki quickly caught the object and asked, "Um what exactly is this thing?" It was a tiny black cube, small enough to be held palm. The only thing that hinted at an abnormality was its weight, which was about a good ten stones.

Still looking thought the shelves, she answered indifferently, "An energy box." She continued by opening up a locked shelf and pulling out a red sack.. Yuuko lifted up and down as if trying to determine its weight. "Like a generator."

"Soo.. how much power is in this thing?" Watanuki lifted it up to his face, trying to figure out how it'd give energy. "I mean, its pretty small.. why'd you need..."

Still using the same detached tone, she interupted him, "It's about the same as a nuke." She then took the sack, and left the room without looking back to see whether or not he was following her.

Watanuki just stared at the object only a couple of hair lengths from his face. "A nuke she says........" He turned his palm and let the box slip from his grasp... It hit the ground with a loud thud. "GAH!!!" The frightened teen dove behind a couple of shelves and braced himself for an explosion that… didn't happen.

After a couple seconds, Watanuki tentatively stuck his head out from his makeshift cover. He saw that the black cube was still on the ground... doing nothing... He heard a tap and ducked once again..

"Watanuki!.."

The teen lifted his again and looked toward the tapping sound. Standing in the middle of the door way was Yuuko, tapping her foot and giving him a stern look. "Wataaaa-kuunn, stop fooling around and get over here." she said in a sing song voice.

"Yes Yuuko-san." Watanuki quickly got up and picked up the black cube, still a bit cautious, and headed for the door. But, he couldn't exit as his tall, long haired beauty of an employer still stood at the door way. She tilted her head down slightly to give him a ,now, bored looking stare.

"Um… Yuuko-san?..."

"I'm not to happy that you're still calling me Yuuko-_san_." The woman said flatly. She dug into her sleeves and pulled out a pocket watch. Looking at the time she smiled. "I guess we have some time to fool around."

For some reason, unknown to him, he shivered slightly at those words. A feint feeling had just brushed over him; which closely resembled the feeling one receives after experiencing deja vu. 'What the hell....whys my body shivering?...'

Watanuki blinked, trying to refocus his thoughts. He looked at Yuuko with a confused expression. "Where did this come from? What are you talking about Yuuko-San? I've always called u that.... Do you prefer I call you Ichihara-san?"

He was also about to ask if she wanted him to call her with a -sama, instead... And.. if she did, he planned to straight up reject that request.. employer or not. 'She already acts like my master! Like hell am I going to start calling h....... Oh boy...' His stopped his musings as he spotted a tiny glint that appeared within the depths of her lavender eyes.

"No, that'll be the exact opposite of what I desire." She leaned forward and traced the tip of her index finger across his jaw line. "We've been through quite a lot together haven't we Watanuki? Yet, you still chose to be irritatingly formal with me."

"W-well, we d-do have an employee/employer relationship don't we Yuuko-san." Watanuki said. He had a feeling to where this conversation was heading, and some how he could sense his body reacting to it.

Yuuko hmph'ed and flashed him one of her cocky grins. "That may be true... But, didn't we just recently start another kind of relationship, hmmm?"

Watanuki thought back to the events that happened throughout the past week. He instantly had to focus all his will power to suppress the blush that threatened to light up his pale face, and to force his mind to stop from delving deeper into all the details. '...delicious details... no!' "I.. I do n-not re-recall..."

"You don't? Hmmmnn, welll I do..." The beauty leaned in closer, and the boy tried to lean back. But, the hand that had traced his face now held it in place. Watanuki looked at her face and saw that her expression had turn vulturous. 'Damn...' He knew he couldn't leave, not that his body wanted too.. But he still felt, whether it be because of morals or society and its laws, that he had to at least try to refute her actions. Though in the end, his mistress still prevailed... over rationality.

Yuuko brought their faces together until there was only a finger nail length of space between them. Watanuki's body went into over-drive as he picked up his mistress's sweet jasmine scent, nerely intoxicating him. He felt her warm breath caress his face as she whispered, "Do really not remember this Watanuki? Do you really not remember only few nights ago on Hallow's Eve?"

Watanuki felt her 'mystics' beginning to stir and wisp around their bodies. He felt his blood start to react to her aura, raising in temperature and flowing much faster. He noticed her fangs lengthen and her eyes shift from purple irises to exotic, golden slits. Watanuki could've sworn they glowed.

"Do you reallyyy not remember how we finally became one?" she whispered, her breathing becoming slightly ragged. She moved one hand behind his head and wrapped the other around his waist, pulling his body and molding it into hers.

Watanuki himself, remained quiet. He'd been is this situation or similar situations quiet a few times over the past four days. Yet, he was still clearly shocked during each encounter. It could be that each encounter was a complete surprise and usually came out of nowhere, reflecting Yuuko's.... unique personality. OR, it could be his ridiculous , at least ridiculous to Yuuko, belief that she shouldn't be doing this with someone as insignificant and inexperienced as he. Yet, when ever he voiced this thoughts she would replay with 'Ahh thats cute... don't worry, soon you won't be, I'll make sure of that...' Which unnerved him.

Before his mind began to process a proper to her advance. But... his mouth started to move on its own."No. How bout you remind me." 'Where. The. Fuck. did that come from!?... No way did i just say that to her...' He saw Yuuko's eyes widen then narrowed mischievously. 'I. Did!?... ' He couldn't believe it. His voice, his actual voice, which came from his mouth, had just betrayed him. 'Kami! Whats happening?! Its her mystics... its influencing me some how!"

"Oooo how bold..." Yuuko purred. "

'It was an accident! I didn't mean any of that!!!' Was what is mind raved. Yet, he simply laughed. Watanuki felt the muscles on his face contract on its own. He knew he was giving her smile, mostly like one that'd mirrored Yuuko's.

Yuuko stared at him for a moment before saying to her self, "Hmmm, its getting stronger..." She gently pulled on his head, pressing his cheek and against hers. She grazed her nose across his neck slowly and inhaled deeply, savoring his newly tainted scent.

"Watanuki... we don't need to leave for another hour or so... It gives us more than enough time to... play." The last word was said in the sexiest and most drawn out voices the witch had to offer, making Watanuki's body respond in excitement.

'My body... whats wrong with me...'

-------------------------------------xXx-----------------------------------------

~~~~~~~~Konoha's Forest~~~~~~~~

-----------------------------xXx--------------------------------

The forests surrounding the village of Konoha was lush and left untamed. It was packed tightly with a large assortment of trees, plants, and other wildlife; many of which are yet to be seen or identified by man. The tree tops blanketed over the land, being nearly three stories tall. This was one of the many reason why the founders of the great ninja village decided to build in this terrain, being that it'd literally be 'Hidden in the Leaves'.

But not all of the forests was completely covered in trees. Looking over the vast expanse, those with a keen eye could spot holes of various sizes among the the tree tops. These were clearings, fields of grass which the most dedicated of shinobi use to advance their skills in quiet seclusion. Here, they could train without any interference for once a clearing was claimed, it was general rule that no other shinobi enter without permission, or risk being caught... or killed in friendly fire...

Nearly a league north of Konoha was a circular clearing with about the same circumference as the Hokage tower. The ground was flat and covered with short green grass. Freshly scorched patches dotted the ground; signs of the wear and tear the area had gone through. Many of the trees that lined the clearing where scarred top to bottom, hinting that the clearing wasn't supposed to be as big as it is, and had recently been... expanding.

In the middle of the clearing the orange clad ninja,Naruto, is seen sitting down peacefully. He is sitting up straight with both legs crossed over the other. His eyes were blindfolded, but the rest of his face seemed to be relaxed. His arms were laid out in front of him, resting over his crossed legs. The slow rise and fall of his chest told of his shallow breathing. He was, undoubtedly, in a trance, in silent meditation.

The world around him was quiet, except for the occasional breeze and the rustling of leaves. Even the animals that usually created natures noise kept their peace. They knew of the blonde within their home, and somehow sensed the event that was about to unfold. So they pay their respect the ninja by keeping away and watching from a safe distance.

Naruto himself felt the world; his meditation greatly heightened this senses, bringing him to the point no longer needing sight. It was his smell that painted the grass, his hearing that painted the trees, and his skin that painted the wind that swayed as it wisked around him.

He saw nothing, but everything. And what he then saw right then was many small masses cutting through the air and heading for the ground in front of him. He couldn't tell what they were in the air, but as the first mass hit the ground a few legs in front of him the picture in his mind suddenly became clear. The speed that it was cutting the air, its unusual weight, and the vibration and depth as it sunk into the earth. 'Kunai'.

Then Naruto heard thud after thud as the kunai landed closer and closer to his prone form. Yet, he didn't move but wait for the kunai as it wizzed toward his unprotected chest. Then, an inch away from his heart, his hand plucked the kunai from the air, twirled it, and flung it into one of the tree tops. He heard a small 'Poof' and smiled.

But it quickly dropped as he sensed more Kunai coming, a LOT more. Naruto rolled to the side as he effortlessly avoided twenty or so something kunai while grabbing five with one hand. When he heard more coming his way, he side stepped and flung his five into the direction which the metal came from.

Five 'Poofs'. His smile returned.

For the next few minutes he continued this pattern. Dodge, catch, throw, poof. Roll, catch, twirl, throw, poof. Catch, dodge, throw, etc. Each move faster than the last. Each planned a split second before. Each performed to perfection.

Yet, the kunais were endless, its numbers never letting up. In fact, it only seemed to grow. This brought a large amount of strain down on the teen, but he still managed to remain unscathed.

After what seemed to be the fiftieth 'poof', the blonde heard a huge rush of leaves, then the sound of thousands of Kunai leaving the forests tops and flying toward the sky. He didn't need to sense it, he could _feel_ sun light being blocked buy the pieces of metal. It loomed over him like a cloud… A massively enormous cloud, made of sharp jaggedly steel.

And like regular clouds, it rained.

The kunai came down, around and on top of Naruto disorienting his senses. He growled softly, reaching for his blindfold, knowing he'd been forced into resorting to his sight. But before he could take it off himself, the raining kunai increased two fold, allowing one though his defense. A vertical line appeared, running across his cheek, splitting the blindfold and his skin. He twisted away.

Naruto felt a hitch in his breathing as the usual panic grew within him, adrenaline pumping into his system. His body twisted again. He shook away the feeling and wiped away blood that ran near his eyes. There was lot of blood on his face, and he could feel more draining from the throbbing wound. This wasn't a good position to be in. Every second it became harder to move as the air grew thicker with kunai.

Naruto decided it was time to step it up, and took a deep breath. His movements became more agile as he twisted and turned his body around the kunai in a way that could only be rivaled by water. He looked up at the falling kunai, his mind calculating his way through the storm. To his eyes, the kunai slowed down, scanning, searching..

'There!' He spotted small gaps in the kunai, a path. He ran straight, taking a few nicks and slashes. But, he ignored the pain, and shot straight up at the gap. It wasn't big enough to allow his body through without untouched, but he still got out of the rain.

Naruto landed on the forest canopy and started running the tree tops. Not long after, he spotted a few figures jump out of the forest in front of him. 'They finally come out.' He jumped and smashed a foot through the first figure, making it explode into smoke. Caught off guard, another figure poofed as he twisted swiftly, bringing a kunai into a wide ark.

More figures jumped onto the tree tops from the forest floor. Hundreds of them. All of which look the same. All of which look exactly like Naruto.

"I don't remember making this many clones.." Naruto gave them a crooked smirk. "Zero's been busy, huh?"

The clones around him grinned and put up their kunais. One of them stepped forward. He looked a bit different from the rest. His hair was a little longer and a bit paler with a white tips on his spikes. On his right cheek, was a notched '1' where three whisker marks should have been. And unlike the rest, his yellow jacket was unzipped, revealing a black muscle shirt worn underneath.

Naruto stanced. "I'm surprised, I don't remember giving Zero this much chakra. This many clones should have drained him, let alone all the kunai's he created." He grunted, "He even had enough to summon you 'One'."

The clone he called 'One', Naruto's second strongest clone, hmph'ed and said "He was surprised too when he summoned me and still had over half of his chakra." He stuck his hands into his pockets and leaned back. He looked aimlessly at the sky and continued, "At first, we thought you'd made a mistake and given Zero more than you'd intended." Feeling his Alpha's confusion, he continued before Naruto asked. "But, it wasn't."

"Because, first off, we felt your intent. You wanted half your chakra to go to Zero, not a particular amount such as enough to summon me, but exactly half your mana pool. And that's what you felt right? Losing half off your chakra?"

"Well… yah.. But that still doesn't explain how Zero got that much…."

"Second," 'One' said, cutting him off, "You don't seem to be too tired, right?"

"Well, I am a bit winded…"

"That's because of all the shit we just put you through." Said One, "I watched you the whole time; so all that, PLUS losing half your chakra, and all you feel is a slight loss of breath?!" He raised an open palm and held it a few inches from his face, and watched as a single leaf landed on it. Slowly, a blue glow outlined the small leaf. It shifted and stretched into the shape of a kunai, the blue aura peeling away the lush green and leaving a dull metallic gray.

One spoke softly, reminiscing the past, "Remember when it took nearly all of our chakra to do this?" He held up the kunai and flung it to his alpha's head, who simply tilted to the side, allowing the clone behind him to catch it with his face.

"So your saying ya think our chakra pool's grown." Naruto grinned, "Awesome. Means that all this training is working after all, getting stronger, not just wasting time."

One broke out a grin of his own, "Good, cause we've been at this for five weeks straight now. And me and Zero's been pretty bored watching you run around. And now that I confirmed our mana capacity, we're going to finish off with today's training." He looked toward the sky once again, and pointed with his finger, "There he is. On guard Alpha."

"Wha.." Naruto tilted his head up to see leg coming straight downt onto him. "Fuck!" He quickly lunged for another branch as the leg nearly slammed into his head. The mass, which the leg belonged to, continued its downward momentum, bursting through the canopy and smashing into the forest floor. Naruto felt the tree under him shake as rock and debree flew skyward the ground.

"Holy shit.." He looked down, through the clearing dust, at a massive crater. The force of the impact had actually _cracked_ the freakin ground and leveled the surrounding trees. 'That could have been me…" The ruble made a sound, and started to move. Naruto quickly looked toward the rest of the clones and saw One was missing. "Damn!"

A figure popped out from the middle, shaking off tons of dirt, mumbling, "Shit, I put wayyy to much chakra into that.." He shook off the last of the dirt revealing himself to be another clone. But, like One, he looked a bit different. His hair was a lot shorter and spikier than his Alpha, and had a much darker shade of the yellow, almost orange. He had removed the yellow jacket completely, favoring only the black muscle shirt. And on the his right cheek, a notched zero replaced the usual whisker marks.

"You could have fucking killed ME!!!... US!!" Naruto bellowed at his clone, nearly hyperventilating. "You almost took my head off!!" *HUFF**huff* "_Our_ Head!!"

Zero just looked up at his Alpha with a confused face, "Why are still staring at me? Shouldn't you be paying attention to the enemy… err.. enemies?"

Naruto felt a burst of chakra behind him. 'Shit!' He quickly rolled forward, avoiding a mass of wind that flew over his head and shattering the tree in front of him. A clone appeared behind the tree's falling remains, shot his hand through a few seals and unleashed another burst of wind, shooting wood chips and splinters at his exposed body.

'Fuck!' He dodged a potential stake and shot above the canopy. He flashed out more kunais and took out dozens of clones he passed hiding within the branches. But, each clone he dispatched, more would swiftly replace it. They were relentless, charging their alpha from all directions, throwing punches, kicks, kunais, making Naruto struggle under their onslaught.

A clone managed to find an opening and slashed at Naruto's jacket, tearing throught the orange fabric. "God damnit!" He twisted away from the blade and rammed his elbow into the back of the clones head.

"IDIOTS! This is the last pair of clothes we have…" Fwosshh…A fire ball hit him from behind, it flames slowly ate away at the shredded material. "…….." With shaking hand, he removed what was left of his last jacket.

'One' flashed next to him, looking amused. " Heheh, wow boss ya look pretty messed up ya do. Wana take a break…. Ack.!" A new blade stuck out of One's neck, spewing out chakra.

The clone looked at his alpha with dead panned expression. "Ya know, ya could've asked if ya wanted a freakin break…" Poof.

---------------

Naruto stood on a branch of one of the forest's largest trees, looking over the damaged he'd done. Because of this training session, another vallion of ancient greens were either destroyed or brought down. He wasn't proud of the destruction, but it was necessary for him train. 'Damn bastards won't let me use the real training fields.'

"**You don't need it Kit. This will do just fine for now."**

The rumbly voice nearly caused him to fall. 'Well now… It's been a while _sensei_. I hope you enjoyed your _nap._' He jumped off the branch and started running toward the village walls. "Do you finally have something to teach me today?'

"**I told you to stop calling me sensei you insignificant fleshbag!" **the voice roared. **"Just because I taught you some shit, doesn't make me your god damned sensei!" **A mental image of a massive snapping jaw appeared in his mind. **"Plus, I've taught you all you need to know."**

'WHAT!? _'taught me all I need to know'_ Bull shit!' Naruto mentally shouted. 'You taught me ONE THING! Chakra Manipulation! That's IT, nothing else!"

"**Quiet! You ungrateful piece of shit!" **a roar clawed at his head. **"Know your place kit! Do **_**not**_** forget who you are talking to! I am the all powerful..."**

"Yes yes…" Naruto said tiredly. "All powerful Kyuubi… Omnipotent being of the elemental countries…" He practically felt the demon grinning. "… Master of chaos and destruction…" and mumbled. "Also the king of all Assholes." **RAWRGHHHH.** "Holy Shit! Arggh! Stop it! God, I get it, I get it Damnit!" He grabbed his head as gruesome images of hell itself ran through his head. "I GIVE, Kyubi-_SAN_."

'Gah, If I'd known the damn demon was going to be a suck-ass sensei and a ginormous headache I wouldn't have pulled off that damned seal on that damned cage.' Naruto remembered his younger self being tempted and charmed by the demon's promises of 'Training, Guidence, and Power.' The voice in his young head telling him all he needed to do was to pull off the seal. And when he finally had the chance to do it, he ripped the seal not know the tremendous amount of headaches he'd unleashed onto himself.

'What and F'in mistake that was.'

"**Hehehe. Listen well **_**Gaki,**_** I may be trapped good and tight within you. But I can still do some damage."**

"Yah.. Yah.." He rubbed his head. 'Jeezzee what an asshole!'

"**That's Asshole-**_**San**_**, Nyaa."**

"What the…"

"………**."**

" '_Nyaa…………? ' _"

"………**.."**

"………….Oh SHIT! My Headdd!!!! Aaarggghhhh! Stooopp it, stop it!!! My Fucking Head!!!"

---------

Naruto walked down a massive dirt road, with Zero alongside him, heading toward Konoha's northern gate. Zero was debriefing Naruto, going over the highlights of the day's training. Ever since he gained a decent amount of chakra control and started training with clones, Kyubi had suggested that he always go over and think after is session. But, him being Naruto, and also being too impatient to relive countless hours of training through meditation, thought of a debriefing via clones.

"It took three seconds less than last time for ya to find your way out of the raining kunai."

"I still sacrificed a few nicks for those seconds."

"The demon chakra should be able to heal and patch them up fast enough for ya to keep fightin."

"**How naïve. My chakra enables a faster healing rate, yes. But, it'd still take a while if I were dealing with poison or anything along those lines."**

Zero blanched a little, dragging a hand through his spikes. "Poison tips, huh... Never thought bout it like that."

They were casually walking with the Northern Gate's flow of traffic. Dozens of people were around them, and the crowd only grew the closer to the gate they got. No one payed much attention to them. Being village's largest entrance, visitors, villagers, ninjas, farmers, traders and travelers alike used the Gate to get in and out of village. Though, it was specially used the traders and farmers, seeing as how it was the largest gate and that it spilled right into the Market district. The massive caravans that the traders transported from all over the elemental countries were able to easily pass through in a timely matter due to the large amount of Nins that were positioned at the check point.

For most of the crowd, the headbands dangling from Naruto and Zero's clothing showed them as any regular ninja of the village. Possibly, their point of interest was that they were either twins or closely related. But, a few few, mostly villagers, that did recognize 'them' made a show of their hatred. They glared at him, spitted on the ground, and even exaggerated a show of walking as far away as possible from the duo. Which, Naruto and Zero completely ignored, making the villagers look ridiculous to everyone else.

"The basic wind jutsus the clones used were at full chakra levels, I barely dodged them. How many clones did you summon with that amount of chakra?"

"All of them should have been able to pull off at least one basic jutsu. It's gotten easier for a clone to control their limited chakra while performing the necessary seals."

"**If you'd mastered chakra manipulation like I told you, you wouldn't need those childish seals you humans do."**

"Our non-seal elemental jutsus are still unpractical in combat. We can use transformation or any non elemental jutsu just fine because they're easy to control. But when it come to elements, it just takes too long to control the amount of chakra we want to release. Heck, some of the clones I fought accidentally poofed themselves trying to pull off a non-seal jutsu."

"**You need to train more, weakling."**

"Hmm.. but I did see 'One' do that basic fire missile jutsu correctly."

"Yeah…. I felt it.."

"For some reason it's a lot easier for us control fire than the rest of the elements." Zero scratched his whiskers marks. "Could it have something it have to do with Kyubi's fire affinity?"

"**Pffft. Don't believe any of that crap the history books, or any of your ignorant senseis tell you. All that stuff about me being a fire demon, or having an affinity with fire is a myth. None of the tailed demons have an affinity. Its just when we manipulate chakra, we turn them into elements that we favor. And I just so happen to like the color red… and burnt bodies."**

Two "Ohs"

"**I have a two tailed sister that likes to be electrocuted."**

Two more "ohs"

xxXxx--------------------------------------xxXxx

So, its not really a good update... Well, non of my updates are good. But here ya go. This chap you see how Naruto trains with his clones and how i'll be writing fight seens. Please note any suggestions on how to make a decent fight seen, cause i really think that it sucks. ALso, with the cliche's, i'm very sure u know how Kyubi communicates, or how clones work, so i'd be to boring to read an explanation.


	5. Chapter 4:Mentality

**xXx-Chapter 4: Decent-xXx**

**XxX-Konoha's Norther Gate-XxX**

**xXx-xXx**

As the Naruto and Zero neared the Northern Gate, their pace slowed down to a crawl as the people that had walked along side them began the checkpoint process. It was seemed uncomfortable discussing their training when near so many other people, so they decided to just wait in silent for one of the Shinobi commission officers to check him in and let them pass. Hopefully, it was someone that would give them much beef. Because, unlike the civilians who were checked in by Genins, crossing Ninja's were checked in by chunin or higher.

'Damn it, I'm beat.' Naruto looked over at his tousled looking clone, Zero. 'He looks like hell.' He winced as he felt the bruises all over his body. 'I probably look worse.' Zero, saw the look on his face and said, "It's like looking into a mirror, huh?" "Shut-…"

A bored looking konoichi suddenly dropped infront of them, and they both stiffened. She had on the standard issue vest and black garb, which were common to the typical jonin. In her arm was paper packed clipboard, which she was constantly scribbling on. She didn't look up when she asked, "Ok, give me your papers or I.D." There was strength in her bored tone, something similar to what Kakashi pulled off.

Naruto sighed, and tried a, "I was just training outside the village." But, he already knew she wouldn't just let him pass without a hassle.

"**Should have just went to the southern gate like I told you." **

'Ugh… but, I wanted to catch a bite at ichiraku before the afternoon rush. Haven't been there for a while."

"**And? … That girl… is still working around now isn't she?…"**

Not noticing the interest in the fox's tone, he answered. 'Yea, but I think Ayame is about to end her shift. I wanted her to cook me a bowl before she does.' There was a pause, and he though the Kyubi was going to say something else but the guard grunted.

"Just pass me your I.D." She ordered; still concentrating on the clipboard. Naruto made a face and took out his Head band. He lightly bit his tongue and pressed a drop of blood onto the Konoha insignia while running a small current of chakra. He then pulsed his chakra and swiped upward. A small puff of smoke, then a unique looking kunai appeared in his hand. Engraved on the blade was a 10 digit number.

He wiped some blood off the handle, then handed it to the jonin. She took it from him, looked at the numbers and started flipping through the clipboard. Naruto looked over at Zero, and saw the look on his face. He too was wondering how the guard was going to react. **"You should have just canceled him before we reached the gate." **'Meh, I like having him around. It's nice having someone to talk to.' **"You just wanted to irritate the villagers." **'We'll he likes pushing their buttons.'

The Kunoichi finished flipping through her charts and said, " Here it is. _Genin rank: Uzu…maki… Naruto…."_ Her eyes widened, then narrowed as she looked up at the two for the first time. Her boredness, was now a grave looking scowl as she said, "_Genin Uzumaki,_ Where is the location of your trainin?"Her tone of voice was low and commanding, almost darning him to poke at his superior.

Without missing a beat, Naruto straightened his stance, looked forward and reported. "Two leagues North-East of here, Guard-san." He avoided looking at the kunoich right in the eyes.

He heard the Demon growl.** "She's baiting you." **

'I know. Calm it. She might feel your chakra if you get agitated.' A lot of the higher ranked ninja's did this to Naruto whenever they had the chance, taunting him with their speriority. Hell, even some high ranking civilians did this too. Hoping to provoke him into striking first, then trying to accuse him of assault, and a few times with treason.

"**Did you piss her off once?"**

'I don't think so. I don't know who she-'

She scribbled something on the clipboard, glanced at zero, then back at Naruto. "I'm assuming that's your clone." Without warning she walked up to Zero and raised her arm. Alarms ranging in his head.

"**Kit! Dispel him now!" **

'Fuck, I can't!'

The guard's arm tensed for a second, then faster than Naruto could see, she swatted her hand across his clone's face. Not expecting such velocity, Zero took the full force of the blow and went tumbling a few yards to the side. Her eyes widened, "What the… that's not a clone.." She started walking toward Zero. But, before she reached him, a flurry of kunai pierced his skull, chest and neck. With a small grunt, he instantly poofed away.

The Kunoichi narrowed her eyes again and turned back to see another cloud of smoke. "Tchh." She cursed. Quickly writing down a few notes, she passed the clipboard to one of the Genin. 'My hit didn't dispel it… There were rumors about the Demon Brat being able to make solid clones.' She looked at her shaking hand, then clenched it hard. 'But there are limits to that technique… This needs to be reported to the Hokage...'

The guard disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

**xXx-Unknown Dimension: Ichihara Home-xXx**

Lying in the middle of the ornate hallway was a tangle of limbs. Two bodies. Their arms intertwined the other's body in unconscious intimacy, oblivious to the still eyes of the hanging paintings and statues. The only thing that shielded their bare form was a makeshift blanket made from their strewn clothes. But that didn't matter as they were the only corporal life forms in the large home. Everything else was…

The grandfather clock from the down the corridor chimed seven times, making Watanuki stir from his sleep. He groaned softly, not opening his eyes, but shifting his limbs as he would if he was in his own bed. But his arms that would normally be pushing away his sheets found they were wrapped around something not too unfamiliar. He shifted a little and also noticed the rest of his body was pressed against whatever his arms held. His head especially.

Watanuki was resting it against something soft, not as soft as his usual pillow, but something much more pleasant. He nuzzled his half-sleeping, half-wake self closer into strange yet familiar object. His face rubbed against the 'pillow' and realized that it was surprisingly firm as well as supple. It was warm to his temple, alive.

"Mmmnnnnnnn…." He heard a small moan and felt something slide up his back onto the back of his head. It mingled with his hair, encouraging him to press deeper into the cushion. He reacted, and his arms tightened around the object, gently sliding up and down, trying to find the softest areas to grasp. His legs had acted on instinct slowly rubbing the lower part of the object, where a certain heat began to grow.

His ears picked up another moan, as his thigh found particularly heated spot. Warmth radiated from the area, strangely damp. In his misty state, Watanuki felt a need to explore. And when he rubbed against the heat again, he felt something firm sandwich his prodding thigh. But he pressed forward against the resistance and continued his explorations.

"Ahhhhh…. Watanuki…" A limb that had been unnotedly wrapped around his body squirmed its way to his side, exposing his back to a breeze that sent a waking chill up his spine. His grogginess vanished and his eyes shot open. Watanuki mouth opened to say something, but the hand in his hair jerked his head forward. Before he knew it, he felt a pair of lips meshed against his own. A slick appendage pushed passed his unspoken words and assaulted his tongue.

"Mnnnn!" He tried to pull away, rising to his elbows, but the being was using a surprising strength, and he quickly found himself flat on his back. The soft limbs he'd been caressing was now pinning down his own, as Yuuko straddled his stomach. The memories of last night had hit him as hard as the Witch had slammed his back to the ground.

'Yuuko had freaking gone into fang mode all of a sudden and practically jumped me…' He remembered the long haired brunette bringing him down, quickly stripping them of clothing, and having her way with him. Just like what she's doing now….

"WAIT! Yuuko! Stop! Hold on for a minute!" He pleaded, wiggling from under her. "I'm wayyy too tired!" He thought of all the things they did that night before he black out into unconsciousness. "I don't think my body can handle anymore! Give me time to rest."

The woman stopped her musings and gave him a flat stare, "Viral boys your age shouldn't be saying such things, Watanuki." She leaned forward to trace a finger across his Jaw. Deviousness ascending her face.

Watanuki's brow twitched, 'Damn… She has that look on her face…' He tilted his head so she had full access to his neck. He gave a yielding sigh, 'Better off not struggling when she's in the mood…'

**xXx-Konoha Roof Tops: Market District-xXx**

Naruto hopped from roof top to roof top, skirting railings and dodging clotheslines. Against the will of his growling stomach he was going at a leisurely pace, but the busy market streets still moved swiftly beneath him. It wasn't an uncommon sight to the civilians for a ninja to be passing over their heads, it was a daily occurrence. Thinking him to be a regular shinobi, the villagers would ignore him.

He just didn't want to catch the attention of other Ninjas. Moving too fast would be like painting a target to himself. Because the times a Ninja needed to use speed was if something important needed to be done. Such as performing a mission. Or if you're stupid and you're late for a meeting. But those ninja also tend to take their sweet time…

"**When was the last time that Idiot sensei of yours called a meeting anyway?"**

He neared his destination and skidded to a stop. Naruto was a roof away from Ichiraku's Ramen stand, 'Ugh.. had you been awake a week ago, you'd know. Kakashi's been more of an ass lately. The uchiha, a bitch. And I haven't seen the pink banshee for a long, long time."

He heard what he thought was a fox's equivalent to a snicker.** "Heh.. thought you liked-"**

"Ack! Stop!" Naruto shook himself out of pure disgust. "Just thinking about it makes me shiver."

He'd dropped his obsession for his pink teammate long long ago, during the mission to Wave. It still astounds him how much he obsessed over the pink hellion. And it wasn't that she'd done something significant to make him suddenly dislike her. Just, one day during their stay Tazuna's, everything about their relationship had abruptly connected. It made sense that he should hate Sakura, that everything she did was to make him miserable.

"**Why it took you so long to realize that puzzled me, even more so than why you took a liking to the lunatic in the first place…"** Naruto ignored the rest of the fox's pondering as he looked past the roof top and spotted the ramen stand. He saw that it was practically empty, which wasn't a surprise at this time of the day. Two hours before high noon. He wouldn't be surprised if a few of the villagers had just waken up and eaten breakfast.

Behind the counter top he spotted Ichiraku working on a fresh batch of noodles. The ramen chef looked as peaceful and healthy as when he last saw him, wearing the white chef's kimono he always wore. It was a comforting sight to Naruto. The old man and his stand has always been the only positive constant in his life; he wouldn't know what to do if his favorite place to eat suddenly disappeared.

Naruto jumped down onto the street walked through the flaps of the shop, "Old man! Long time no see!" He gave the man one of his grins while scratching the back of his head..

The blonde didn't notice the slight pause before Ichiraku exclaimed, "Naruto!" He dropped a heavy hand on the boy's spiky hair. "Its been so damned long! I thought you'd found another ramen shop! Where ya been?"

Naruto chuckled before he brushed the hand away, "Its good to see you too Old man. And no, I didn't find another ramen shop. Didn't ya know? No other place can compete with your ramen!" He flopped onto a seat and leaned over the counter, taking a quick look around.. "Man I miss this place… I just have been busy training, that's all. Still a long ways from being strong."

The ramen chief paused again, looking at the teen sitting patiently in his shop. "Ya it has been a while… and you've changed during it." The man said softly, but quickly continued with a laugh when the boy looked at him funny, 'You been busy alright. Busy growing! I think you're as tall as me now! I can't believe I didn't notice it till now!" He scratched his face. "I mean… I've watched you do some amazing stuff, but I do know growing isn't one of your specialties. Is this one of your ninja tricks?"

"What! I've alway been as tall as you." The boy patted his head. "Don't know why, but my body just one day decided it needed to grow and then the very next morning I'm over shooting the toilet when I wake up to pee." Naruto put on a thoughtful look, "Though… I think I forgot to lower the seat… maybe that's why…. Blah. Anyway I woke a head taller than I was. No pain or anything."

"Oh I see…" The chef turned around and grabbed an empty bowl from a shelf. "Well then, enough of the pleasantries, what will you be having eh? I'm sure your starving"

"Two beef please." Naruto grinned. "Hehe ya heard my belly didn't you?"

"Gotcha. Two beef, also extra meat, I guessing. And no, it was your drooling that pointed it out." He took a batch of freshly stretched noodles and dumped then a bowl of boiling broth. "So… where you been training?"

Naruto reached over to grab a pair of chopsticks, "Just a little north of the village. Found a few good clearings to work on a few techniques."

"Really?" He chopped up a couple veggies and threw them into the bowl. "You got anyone training you?- I mean I see your sensei around a lot. I'm guessing he's not teaching you right now right?"

Making an irritated face at the mental picture of his jonin sensei, Naruto said scornfully, "Well, he's too busy training that damned Sasuke… Bleh! I don't need him." Then, the sneer suddenly dropped and he looked up at the old man with a grin. "Pass me that knife of yours. I'm going to show you what I learned. All by myself!"

"My knife?" The chef lifted the tool he was using to slice a roll of fish cake, and tentatively handed it to the boy. "Your not going to break it or something,, right? That's one of my best, and more _expensive_ pieces."

Naruto brought it to eye level and twirled it a few times, studying every single little detail the blade had. "Don't worry… Just watch. It'll take only a second." He held out his empty hand, and almost like magic, chakra condensed into sight in the air around his digits. Then suddenly, the chakra rushed into a single point, compacting itself, creating a twin of the knife from handle to tip.

"Heh. So tell me what you think old man."

The ramen chef gaped at the phenomena as Naruto handed both the real knife and the replica to him. One in each hand, he weighted them both, examined the all the small details. "They're both exactly the same! If I hadn't watch you done it, I wouldn't have a clue on which one was mine." He tried using the fake on a slab of beef. "And it works too!... Wait.. I think this is sharper than the real one! How did you- Who taught you this? I've been living in the village for quite some time, and I haven't seen a technique like this before."

"I take that you like it." His grin widened. "That's what I've been working on this since I got back from wave, on my own. Also, I think the concept of the technique is pretty common, you just might have never seen anyone do it right in front of you."

"**It's not exactly common kit…"**

'What? But it's so easy to do.'

"**Idiot. It is same reason with your shadow clones, only those with high amounts of chakra can perform these techniques. Also, perfect replication like this is almost unheard of in this realm."**

The old man continued fixing up the bowl of Ramen, testing the limit of the conjured blade. "Amazing, you learned this all by yourself. What else have you training on this past month?"

"**Kit, don't say anything else. You already did too much with your little performance." **The Kuubi said slowly.

Naruto paused, thinking it over and reluctantly agreed with the statement. But he still asked, 'But what's wrong with showing it to him, I've known him forever. Along side, Ayame, The Hokage, and Ikura sensei, he's almost like family…'

"**It doesn't matter. From friend to foe, or the other way around, information is always looking for a chance to be spread." **Naruto heard the fox make a strange growl, which he felt was something similar to a human's speculatory 'hmmm…..' **"Also… his questioning seemed a little strange…"**

"Ah! Your early Naruto!" He looked up to see Ayame's head sticking out from the backroom's door flap. She gave him a genuinely happy grin and said, "Hold on a minute, change out of my work clothes." She then quickly disappeared back into the storeroom, leaving her father with a slightly confused look.

Totally forgetting the Kyubi's comment, Naruto chuckled and looked up at the old man, "So ya, old man, that knife will last you a couple hours, so make use of it."

"s-sure…"

Ayame popped back out, this time wearing a white blouse and skirt instead of her work robe. She picked up the two bowls that her father had just topping off and walked around to Naruto's side of the counter. She placed one in front of the younger teen and the other in front of the seat next to him, which she sat on. The two of them brought their palm together, did a quick 'itadakimasu' and dug in.

The old man scratched his head, "Um.. Ayame… both of those bowls were for Naruto.."

Swallowing his first bite, Naruto said, "No it was for her. She wanted me to order for her so we can get going." He turned to the girl, "You sure we need to hurry?"

The ramen girl made a show of looking over his clothes, still freshly worn and torn from his training session. "Yes… we need all the time we can get. And are you sure you have enough cash for it?"

"Yea yea, judging from damage you did to your savings yesterday, I brought enough of my own and then some for any other things. Though… I hope you don't go over board." Said the blonde, mumbling the last part under his breath.

"Hey you better not be backing out of this! My turn was yesterday, and Now it's yours. Remember it was _you_ that started this! Mr. Funnyman." She poked. "If you hadn't teased me about my clothes, this would've never happened."

"Oh well… its not that I hate it." He shrugged. "As long as I'm with you." Not know the flurry of thoughts he'd just set off in the young girls mind, Naruto leisurely walked out of the booth.


End file.
